Boeing engineers approve work contract
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co's second-largest union voted on Monday to approve the company's four-year contract offer, avoiding a second damaging strike at the plane maker's Seattle-area plants.
A majority of the more than 20,000 members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace -- the union representing white-collar engineers and technicians -- voted in favor of the contract.
The result is a boost for Boeing, which is still struggling to get its airplane production lines up to speed a month after its 27,000 machinists returned to work after a 58-day strike.
SPEEA and Boeing negotiators reached a tentative deal almost three weeks ago, after two weeks of face-to-face negotiations.
With the vote, two major Boeing contracts have been approved. The first covers 13,898 Boeing engineers and the second covers 6,576 technical workers.
The contracts go into effect December 2, 2008, and expire October 6, 2012, the company said.
The vast majority work at Boeing's Seattle-area plants, but some are also located in Oregon, Utah and California.
(Reporting by Bill Rigby; Editing by Mike Miller)
