Engineers to make contract demands

Boeing Co engineers will become the planemaker's second union to demand the return of work farmed out to contractors, an issue that contributed to the strike started by 27,000 machinists Sept 6.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, representing 21,000 Boeing workers in Washington state, Oregon, California and Utah, will present its first proposal to Boeing for a three-year contract to replace the one that expires Dec 1, Executive Director Ray Goforth said.

The engineers may increase pressure on Boeing to take back work it gave contractors to help control costs while developing and building planes like the new 787 Dreamliner. The machinists strike shut down production at Chicago-based Boeing's Seattle-area manufacturing hub, where an increasing amount of the work is now final assembly of parts built elsewhere by contractors.