The previous day they had voted to ratify a new three-year agreement that removed most of the takebacks previously demanded by the company. Brent McFarlane, a technician at Boeing, expressed a common sentiment among the strikers when he said that he wasn't satisfied with the latest contract, but, more importantly, "we won most of what we wanted and we're now stronger as a union."

The vote totals were virtually the same for both the engineers and technicians--71 percent for the new contracts and 29 percent against.

Some 22,000 engineers and technicians are represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), the second largest union at Boeing, although not all belong to the organization. According to the union, 18,000 honored the picket lines for the duration of the strike, many more than are SPEEA members.

Among the key issues that prompted the rejection of the company's two previous contract offers were the placing of wage increases at the discretion of supervisors, cuts in benefits such as the life insurance package, and the refusal to give a signing bonus.

The contract settlement guarantees engineers a 9 percent wage raise and technicians 10 percent. Boeing also backed off its attempts to get SPEEA members to pay part of their medical premiums and has restored health coverage for early retirees and new hires.

At meetings before the strike vote, many SPEEA members expressed that they could have gotten more. Several workers came with signs that simply said "NO." One worker objected to the bonus, saying, "Since bonuses for others are based on last year's performance, why would [the union's negotiator] accept a bonus tied to a carrot over our heads."

The settlement gives SPEEA workers $1,000 within 30 days after they are back to work, another $500 after 225 planes are delivered in the year 2000, and another $1,000 if 491 planes are delivered by next March. Since the 491 figure is based on a business plan from before the strike it is highly unlikely that it will be met.

During the strike Boeing management said that the SPEEA members were being unrealistic and that the company would not offer any major changes in the contract rejected earlier. With fanfare the bosses "imposed" their final offer several weeks into the strike.

In the face of this, the strikers showed their resolve by staying solid on the picket lines and organizing a series of marches and rallies, which began winning solidarity from other unionists and fighting workers. These included Steelworkers locked out by the Kaiser Aluminum company and the strikers at Valley Manufactured Housing in eastern Washington. The AFL-CIO and several national unions pledged financial support.

While company executives tried to play down how much the strike was affecting production, three dozen scheduled jetliner deliveries were missed and the company's development work was slowed, including its Joint Strike Fighter program.

McFarlane pointed out that he had resigned from SPEEA at one point "because it wouldn't do things like this," referring to the strike. "But I rejoined about a year ago when SPEEA joined the AFL-CIO." McFarlane went on to say that the union was now much stronger for future battles. Noting that SPEEA had no strike fund he said, "That's something we definitely need now."

One striker on the picket line earlier had stated to the agreeing nods of other pickets, "SPEEA is now SPEEU. We were an association. Now we're a union."  
 
 
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