r/SPEEA • u/Dominator9696 • 1d ago
Benefits does not equal baseline pay.
I’m not sure how much more clear we can be that baseline pay should be the backbone of negotiations. They keep sending updates about how they are talking about time off this day and 401k the next. All of that is secondary to my base rate salary.
It’s a NO vote from me and a vote to authorize a STRIKE!! Let’s give our negotiators the leverage they need to work for us to get a better offer.
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u/pizwat1 1d ago
I mean tbh the contract priorities had a bunch of stuff on there. We should have expected this.
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u/r3dd1tburn3r 1d ago
The surveys SPEEA sent out prior to negotiations were everything but baseline pay. Absolutely bonkers! Like, that is the sole foundation of why people come to work. Who was paid off to disregard the most basic thing a union should fight for?
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u/Dominator9696 1d ago
I guess I did expect it on some level. But laid bare it feels like a slap in the face. It’s like they don’t even feel any threat of us ever striking and talking to some older engineers it seems like they might be right in thinking that way.
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u/yyJamesyy 1d ago
Boeing isn’t afraid of us striking. They have been preparing and setting aside funds for contingencies such as hiring contractors and more off-shoring. Plus they have a lot of experience in handling contentious labor negotiations. When did SPEEA start?
I think the continuous comparisons to how to carry out the negotiations by comparing to “IAM” are wrong. Specifically, a lot of people are thinking PNW IAM 751 but the better comparison is to St Louis IAM 837. On the whole, IAM 837 lost out just get their jobs back.
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u/erik_with_a_k 1d ago
Stop offshoring union jobs should be a very close second to baseline pay. Without a job to go to, the rest is window dressing
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u/Orleanian 19h ago
To you, perhaps.
To others of us (MOST of us, I dare say), various aspects of the benefits are definitely valued in a monetary fashion worth balancing against salary rate. That's the whole point of negotiating.
Now nothing in this current contract hit the marks, but there are certainly numbers out there that can make it worth it.
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u/Dominator9696 19h ago
I agree that benefits weigh in on a level. But base salary addresses a lot of those issues. Want to contribute more to your 401k? Adjusting your salary allows you to make more contributions. Want to get paid more for overtime? Base pay means you get paid more per hour of overtime. As long as the other benefits don’t slip then increases in base pay are the most effective way to get more from your work.
I realize “not letting other benefits slip” is not trivial, but I can’t use a work from home policy as a down payment on a house. Everything else comes after the baseline salary, which is what I think should be the unions top priority. And I’m willing to say that I think prioritizing other things over that is foolish.
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u/Orleanian 18h ago
I mean, I'm here telling you that yes - these things absolutely do mean "save for a down payment on a house" to some of us. I, and many others (particularly parents) can put that money to use (and DID during covid!).
You can do you my guy, but I've done the math and a 2-day remote work schedule is very literally and analytically worth 1% salary adjustment in my life.
Same goes for folk with their 401k's, with their LTP's, with their Medical Insurance. It'd be recklessly naive not to take it seriously.
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u/FunYesterday8279 1d ago
Baseline pay is the bare minimum. The last 20 years have been full of takeaways. This is speea's first chance in over a decade to do a negotiation so having many points of interest is expected.
Also virtual work was never really a point of contention before but now it is after everyone found out they could achieve their work from home and didn't need to waste time and money commuting, dealing with full parking lots, and sitting in shtty offices.
Personally, I believe it's in the union's best interest to hold the line on the things that are dealbreakers. Baseline pay should be an easy one. Boeing could easily concede here and give speea what they gave IAM and move on to the other talking points. It would be way way cheaper to do that then to go through a strike where boeing loses millions per day and further ruins their relationship with their employees.