Engineering union looks at unpaid overtime at Spirit

The union that represents engineers and technical workers at Spirit AeroSystems is checking into whether some of its members are putting in overtime but not getting paid for it.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace is currently surveying its 2,350 members who work at Spirit about uncompensated overtime.

Collective bargaining agreements between Spirit and SPEEA’s Wichita Technical and Professional Unit and Wichita Engineering Unit specifically state that union members will be paid overtime for any work they do beyond 40 hours in one week, a SPEEA official said.

“We have a lot of people out there that have a huge work load, so it requires them to work more than 40 hours a week to accomplish their projects,” SPEEA Midwest director Bob Brewer said Thursday. “They will work overtime without putting it on their time card.”

He said the reason members won’t report overtime on their time cards is generally because overtime hasn’t been approved in their work area or department.

“The issue is people are hesitant to report that for fear of retaliation, to put it bluntly,” Brewer said.

The retaliation could come in the form of being told by a supervisor that they’re “not a team player,” he said, or manifest itself on their next performance and retention rating.

“To me, that’s not the work environment that should be in place out there at Spirit,” Brewer said.

Spirit said in a statement to The Eagle on Thursday that its employees are paid overtime consistent with federal and state laws as well as collective bargaining agreements.

The company also said in the statement that SPEEA hasn’t contacted it directly regarding overtime issues.

Brewer said an online survey of SPEEA members about unreported overtime will close on Nov. 23. So far, more than 700 members have completed the survey.

After officials have had a chance to look at the results, they will meet with Spirit officials.

“We have weekly management-labor meetings, and that will be a topic of discussion,” Brewer said.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 6:36 PM with the headline "Engineering union looks at unpaid overtime at Spirit."