Turn a Public 10% Raise Into a Merit Case

The tentative Boeing-SPEEA agreement would give about 17,000 professional and technical employees a 10% pay boost on Oct. 16, then 4% general pay increases in each year from 2027 through 2030, with merit-based pay growth. If your offer is low and the labor market is moving, that package gives you a dated, named benchmark to test whether your company's merit budget is tracking the market or protecting a plan. It also gives you a way to ask that question without sounding resentful, while keeping you honest about the org chart: your level, your manager's budget, and the role's place in the team still matter.

A dated benchmark makes the gap visible

Start with the date and population of the benchmark, because a number without a date is weak. The Boeing-SPEEA package gives you three things: a date, a group, and a size. That matters because a one-time move and a multi-year path are different evidence. A one-time move can be a correction. A multi-year path can show a sustained market change. When you bring the benchmark to a manager, the first test is whether the group it covers is close enough to your role to matter.

Build the case in the order you will use it

• Date the benchmark and name the population it covers, using the public raise as the example. You are done when the note has the increase, the effective date, and the group it applies to.
• Check role comparability before you compare pay. A finished check lists duties, level, market, and seniority that match the benchmark population. If your role is not comparable, say so and find a closer benchmark.
• Measure the gap to your offer. A finished comparison shows your current pay, your offered increase, and the benchmark increase. That gap is the entry fee for a bigger ask.
• Collect the evidence that moved the number. You are done when you have a few facts that show the benchmark was not a random number. The revised SPEEA package is a four-year contract, and its general wage increases are higher than those in the first offer that members rejected on Aug. 21; following that rejection, an internal survey put general wage increases at the top of member priorities, and the union said those responses influenced later bargaining.
• Make the ask specific. A strong ask includes a number, a date, and a reason tied to the benchmark. The mistake is treating a public raise as a personal entitlement. Use it as evidence that the market moved while your offer did not.
• Choose the fallback before the meeting. A good fallback protects your standing when the number will not move: a review date, a level change, a project-based adjustment, or a documented path to the next increase. Put the fallback in the same note as the ask.

Use the local market to sharpen the ask

Seattle-area consumer prices rose 4.5% over the prior year, based on July data. That local price pressure is not the same as a wage benchmark, but it helps explain why a low merit offer can feel like a real loss. When your market is moving, your case should say so plainly.

Boeing's first four-year offer, made July 30, included a 3% base raise back to Feb. 20, 2026, 40% of each member's 2026 incentive bonus, and 40 restricted stock units valued above $9,000. That was the starting point.

On Aug. 21, 64.25% of the professional unit said no, 7,238 to 4,027, while 71.87% of the technical unit said no, 2,795 to 1,094, on the Boeing offer.

The current Boeing-SPEEA deal expires Oct. 6, so a strike is possible if a new contract is not signed first.

Those details matter because they show a benchmark can move when the evidence is specific enough to change the decision. Your case does not need a dramatic event. It needs a clear reason the number should move.

Bring the benchmark as a direct question. For a budget number, ask for a market number. For an offer that is already market-based, ask for the next check-in.