Boeing, Union Reach Deal to Freeze Pensions of Engineers

In March 2014, Boeing froze defined-benefit pensions for all of its non-union employees and shifted them into a 401(k) plan. The change affected 68,000 workers.

This week, Boeing struck a deal with the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), the union that represents its engineers.

The union agreed to a deal that freezes some engineers’ pensions and shifts them into a 401(k) plan.

Details from Nasdaq:

Boeing Co. and its white-collar engineers’ union said Wednesday they had reached a tentative agreement on a six-year contract extension, avoiding a potentially bruising fight that would’ve renewed long-standing tensions between employees and management.

The existing four-year contract was set to expire in October, and, if renewed, would provide Boeing with labor stability into the 2020s and shift the last large group of its unionized employees away from a defined benefit pension program.

The union’s leadership said it had unanimously endorsed the agreement, recommending its members ratify the extension which, if approved, would take effect Feb. 11 and continue through Oct. 6, 2022.

[…]

Under the new agreement, all Speea represented employees hired before March 2013 would shift to a defined contribution pension at the end of 2018. A traditional pension had been preserved for existing engineers during the last round of talks in 2013. The machinists and Boeing’s non-represented employees are slated to switch fully to a 401(k) defined- contribution plan later this year, following a freeze of its existing pension benefits.

Union members still have to ratify the contract extension.

Photo by Christian Junker via Flickr CC License