Thousands of Boeing staff members are ready to strike if further contract negotiations between union representatives and the planemaker fail to bear fruit.
On August 21, 2026, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) said that the majority of its Boeing union members had rejected a new contract offer from the employer.
Additionally voting members overwhelmingly support SPEEA calling strike action if there are not “significant improvements to the offer”.
“Your voices and votes have made clear that the proposed contract terms fall short for members and that negotiations with Boeing must continue,” the union said in a statement.
The rejected four-year proposal was presented to around 13,000 engineers and scientists, as well as around 4,000 technical staff earlier in August 2026.
According to SPEEA, 64% of members from the professional unit rejected the new offer and 71% from the technical unit. 11,339 professional unit members voted, and 3,909 technical unit members voted.
Almost 90% of members from both sectors authorized the union to press ahead with industrial action.
SPEEA said that thousands of its members continue to have “deep mistrust” of Boeing leaders, “rooted in individual experiences”. These include:
- SPEEA-represented jobs eroding, moving out of state or offshoring
- Quality and safety taking a backseat to schedule
- Engineering and technical decisions being overruled or ignored
- Salaries failing to keep pace with inflation and the aerospace job market
“We’ve given a damn all these years, and our efforts, particularly over the last two contracts, were not acknowledged, appreciated nor rewarded,” SPEEA said. “In this challenging moment, we rely on each other and our solidarity as we work toward a new offer that meets the collective expectations of SPEEA members.”
SPEEA has sent its members a survey to understand what they would need from the next offer to vote to accept. The survey remains open until August 26, 2026.
“The next few weeks will be busy for the Negotiation Team, but we are committed to negotiating the best offer that reflects all our SPEEA members’ voices,” the union added.