Wichita ? Two days after their counterparts in Seattle overwhelmingly approved their contract offer, engineers at The Boeing Co.’s Wichita plant vote today on a similar proposal.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace represents 1,300 engineers in its Wichita unit. A union meeting is planned at 5 p.m. today to review Boeing’s final contract. Voting is scheduled to begin after the meeting and continue through 8 p.m. Results are expected about an hour later.

“There are a lot of common elements to the contract, but I think Wichita has always voted their minds separate from Seattle. I would anticipate them doing it again,” said Bob Brewer, contract administrator for SPEEA. “However, I think we will see a similar acceptance vote in Wichita that we saw in Seattle.”

On Monday, Boeing’s unionized engineering and technical work force in Washington state overwhelmingly approved the aerospace manufacturer’s “best and final” offer on two contracts covering 17,500 workers. SPEEA’s engineer and technical worker units both approved their contracts by 88.2 percent. About 12,000 workers participated in the mail vote.

The union leadership has recommended its Wichita members also approve the contract offer.

“We think we came away with a contract that works well for everybody – the company, the employees and the community,” Brewer said.

Brewer said union officials knew going into the negotiations that this was going to be a “tough contract” given the economic environment.

Boeing’s contract offer includes bonuses and raises but require employees to pay higher health care costs.

Under the proposal, Boeing would provide guaranteed raises and merit raises for employees of 4 percent in each year of the three-year contract.

Workers would receive a raise of least 1 percent each year, with the remainder to be given out as merit raises. The guaranteed minimum would be 4.5 percent over the life of the contract.

In addition, the company would give a 6 percent contract-ratification bonus the first year, totaling about $4,800 for engineering workers. SPEEA workers in the Wichita unit earn an average $56,226.

The current Wichita SPEEA contract expires at midnight Thursday.