June 30 (Reuters) – Boeing and the union representing its engineers and technical workers said on Tuesday they would begin formal contract talks ahead of the expiration of their labor agreements in October.
The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, which represents roughly 17,000 members, said it was seeking better pay, improved benefits and more flexible work arrangements.
The talks are Boeing’s third major contract negotiations in as many years. The previous two, covering the planemaker’s commercial aircraft workers and a separate bargaining unit of defense workers, both represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, ended in extended strikes.
Boeing said it viewed the negotiations as an opportunity to strengthen its workplace culture and added that it wanted to reach an early agreement.
“The dollars we’d spend executing a contingency plan could instead be invested in all of you as we work toward a strong contract offer,” said Ben Nimmergut, Boeing’s vice president and functional chief engineer for production engineering.
(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das)
