Union says Boeing's tuition perk can't be cut without negotiations

Boeing's main white-collar union said Friday that the company's plan to cut a generous education perk can't be applied to its members without negotiations.

A Seattle Times story Friday left the impression that all employees would be affected.

The company, while acknowledging that union members will retain the benefit for now, said it does want the new restrictions that it's imposing on college-course subsidies for nonunion employees to apply equally to union members, too.

The benefit is not written into most of Boeing's labor contracts, a company spokeswoman said. Whether Boeing can impose the change against the union's will appears to be a gray area.

Boeing notified employees recently that it plans to restrict the program, called Learning Together, that pays tuition for employees taking any course at any accredited college.

Beginning next month, new hires will be subsidized only for courses that meet Boeing's strategic needs. At year end, employees enrolled in "nonstrategic" courses will lose funding. And those taking approved courses will have their previously unlimited funding capped.

Only salaried, nonunion employees will be initially affected.

However, Boeing spokeswoman Karen Forte said Friday that company management is talking to its unions about applying similar limits to their members.

Forte said such changes do not necessarily have to wait until a new contract is negotiated.

She said that most union contracts include no specific reference to the program but only a general clause stating that Boeing cannot impose benefit changes "without at least sitting down with the union."

"That's what we plan to do," Forte said. The goal, she said, is "parity" between union and nonunion.

Boeing's white-collar union, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), told its members in a note Friday morning that "under federal labor law, the company cannot make unilateral changes in wages, benefits, or working conditions for SPEEA-represented employees during a contract term without notifying and engaging SPEEA.

"SPEEA-represented employees presently interested in the Learning Together program should continue with their plans," the note advised.

Machinists union members, as part of their contract, have a separate IAM/Boeing joint program that offers tuition assistance for education and training. That is unaffected by the changes to the Learning Together program.

Currently 6,000 employees in the Puget Sound region benefit from the Learning Together program. Boeing could not say Friday how many of those are union members.

Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963 or dgates@seattletimes.com