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(SEATTLE August 11) To ensure the pension program relied on by 21,400 technical employees at The Boeing Company is
not being secretly used to fund executive retirement benefits, the union representingthe employees is demanding the company immediately disclose the extent and funding source of itsxecutive pension plans.
The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001,formally requested the information
from Boeing after a recent investigative news report by The Wall Street Journal uncovered U.S. corporations funding executive pensions by funneling funds through regular employee plans. This practice
weakens employees’ pensions while allowing corporations to takeadvantage of huge tax benefits not normally available for executive pension plans.
In the Aug. 4, page-one, report, The Wall Street Journal called the pension maneuvers by corporations a “dubious use of
tax law” that “risks harming regular workers.”Earlier this year, Boeing announced the elimination of pensions for new, non-union employees.The company is seeking to eliminate pensions
for union represented employees when new contracts are negotiated.
“Benefits consultants advise companies to keep quiet about these schemes to avoid employeebacklash,” said Ray
Goforth, SPEEA executive director. “Boeing’s move to eliminate pensions for regular workers is consistent with the pattern uncovered by the Wall Street Journal. SPEEA demands to know if
Boeing is sacrificing the pensions of regular workers to benefit executives.”
The Boeing Company Employee Retirement Plan (BCERP) covers employees represented by SPEEA. Management told union leaders it
wants to eliminate the long-term liability of the pension plan.The plan, a traditional pension, provides retired employees monthly payments until death. Instead, Boeing proposes making contributions to
each employee’s 401k. The contribution is half the value of the presentpension contribution. In addition to reducing corporate expense, the plan shifts all risk and maintenanceof retirement onto
the employee.
In October, SPEEA begins negotiations with Boeing for 21,400 engineers and technical employees in Washington, Kansas, Oregon,
Utah and California. The existing contracts expire Dec. 1,and in Kansas, Dec. 5.
SPEEA represents 24,500 aerospace professionals at Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita,Kansas, Triumph Composite Systems,
Inc., in Spokane, Wash., and at BAE Systems, Inc. in Irving,Texas. SPEEA is an affiliated local of the International Federation of Professional and TechnicalEngineers (IFPTE).
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