I just filed the following story late Wednesday night.

Read the on-line version, or the longer version below.

The union that represents Boeing engineers and technical workers in the Puget Sound region has recalled four board members who in July dismissed the union's former executive director.

"It's time to move on and start the healing of our union," Cynthia Cole, SPEEA president who had opposed the move by the four board members, said in a statement Wednesday night.

A spokesman for the union said members voted by mail-in ballot and about 23 percent of eligible members voted in the special election.

After the vote result, a majority of the remaining board members met and appointed Cole to acting executive director and Northwest Vice President Tom McCarty assumed the position of SPEEA treasurer, according to the statement issued by the union.

On July 10, four of the seven board members voted to end the contract with Charles Bofferding who served as the union's executive director for the past 16 years.

The move triggered the recall effort.

The recall referendum asked union members whether to recall or keep Treasurer Bob Wilkerson, Secretary Dave Baine and Northwest Region Vice Presidents Mike Dunn and Jill Ritchey.

"I never thought we would have this kind of situation, that we would be going through all of this," Cole had previously told the P-I in an interview.

One of those SPEEA members upset by what happened sent the P-I an e-mail at the time.

"This takeover of SPEEA by a tiny group of mischief makers is truly a very important story in view of its impact on Boeing and the economy of this area. I am shocked that it has received so little attention," the member wrote.

Cole said in the previous interview that many SPEEA members were very upset about what happened, and that's why they signed the recall petitions.

Even those who did not like or support Bofferding were upset about the way he was terminated, she said.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or SPEEA, represents 23,850 engineers, technical and professional employees at The Boeing Company in Washington, Kansas, Oregon, Utah and California. The union also represents workers at Spirit AeroSystems, Inc., in Wichita, Kan.; Triumph Composite Systems, Inc., in Spokane, Wash.; and BAE Systems, Inc., in Irving, Texas.

The current three-year SPEEA contract with Boeing ends in December 2008. Boeing's contract with its Machinists union ends at midnight Sept. 1, 2008.

Contract talks with both unions will come at a critical time next year for Boeing. A strike by either union could disrupt production of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner, which is set to enter airline service in late 2008. Boeing has said it needs to have about 40 Dreamliners assembled by the time of first delivey in late November or December 2008 in order to produce and deliver 109 jets to customers by the end of 2009 as planned. So production will be ramping up when serious labor talks get under way.

The Northwest Council will elect replacements for the two vice president positions vacated in the recall and also the vacancy created by McCarty advancing to treasurer, according to the union's statement. It has not yet been determined how the secretary position will be filled.

The recall vote totals were as follows, according to the union statement.

Officer
Yes - Recall
No - Retain


Treas. Bob Wilkerson
2,446
1,906


Sec. Dave Baine
2,467
1,908

NW VP Mike Dunn
2,491
1,760


NW VP Jill Ritchey
2,398
1,781

For background on this controversy, read these past reports:

Gang of four.

Charles Bofferding gets the ax.