Boeing and Its Engineers Reach a Second Tentative Deal, This Time With a 10% Raise Up Front

On September 11, 2026, Boeing and SPEEA, the union representing about 17,000 of its engineers and technical workers, reached a new tentative four-year contract. It comes three weeks after members rejected the first offer and authorized a strike.

The deal opens with a 10% guaranteed raise, followed by another 4% guaranteed raise in March 2027. In 2028, 2029 and 2030, members would share 6% wage pools, each with a guaranteed minimum raise of 4%.

SPEEA’s negotiation team is recommending that members accept. Voting runs from noon Pacific time on September 24 to noon on October 1, and the current contracts expire on October 6.

What Changed From the Offer Members Rejected

The main difference is money up front. The rejected offer opened with a 3% raise at ratification, backdated to February 20, 2026, then relied on wage pools whose guaranteed minimums were tied to inflation and capped at 3%, the Lynnwood Times reported.

By SPEEA’s math, the new offer gives the average member a compound increase of 36.3% over four years, with a guaranteed minimum of 28.7%. The rejected offer would have averaged 29.4%.

The package also rewrites the work-from-home language, adds overtime limits for the Professional Unit and brings back a three-bucket retention rating system, the union said. It adds a floating holiday and better dental coverage, and it keeps the healthcare and retirement improvements from Boeing’s first offer.

One date has already moved. The union’s September 11 summary put the 10% raise at October 16, but Boeing’s September 14 update says it would now take effect October 2, following ratification. Boeing adds that all of the money in each year’s wage pool must be spent on SPEEA members.

“It isn’t everything we’d asked for, but it represents a real step forward toward improving our pay and work lives,” the union’s negotiation team told members.

Ben Nimmergut, Boeing’s vice president and functional chief engineer for production engineering, said the offer addresses employees’ top priorities. “We’re optimistic this will allow all of us to focus on the important work ahead,” he said in a statement carried by The Seattle Times.

Why Boeing Needed a Second Try

The first offer failed even though SPEEA’s negotiators had unanimously recommended it. On August 21, the Professional Unit voted it down 64.25% to reject, and the Technical Unit by 71.87%, while nearly 88% and 90% respectively voted to authorize a strike.

This is also the first full contract the two sides have bargained since 2012. The 2016 and 2020 agreements were extensions, Reuters noted.

For Boeing, the stakes are in certification rather than on the factory floor. SPEEA members design, analyze and test aircraft instead of assembling them, which puts them at the center of the 737 MAX 10 and 777-9 approval campaigns.

Both jets are still without FAA type certificates, several years behind schedule, and a SPEEA strike could delay them further, Leeham News reported. It added that this round of talks has been notably free of the acrimony of earlier Boeing labor fights.