An arbitrator ordered Boeing to pay $47 million in back pay, benefits, and interest to 484 current and former Southern California employees. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) filed a grievance in 2001 contesting Boeing’s denial of union representation to employees working at Palmdale and Edwards Air Force Base in jobs covered by the union’s contracts. The arbitrator’s final ruling and award required Boeing to “make whole” the employees for everything they should have received under the union contracts, plus 10 percent annual interest.