OAN Staff James Meyers
3:20 PM – Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Thousands of Boeing employees will be given their pink slips within the next few weeks, multiple union and industry sources stated.
The aircraft company revealed that it plans to cut out 17,000 jobs and take $5 billion in charges, continuing a downward year for the company.
The announcement comes after acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su flew to Seattle trying to ease the strike turmoil.
“Acting Secretary Su is meeting with both parties today to assess the situation and encourage both parties to move forward in the bargaining process,” a Department of Labor spokesperson said on Monday.
Despite Su having previously spoken with Boeing and the striking West Coast factory workers’ union, it is her first time in Seattle meeting both sides in person.
Meanwhile, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), said its lead negotiator, Jon Holden, filled Su in on the latest current negotiations, “stressing the Union’s commitment to a negotiated contract that values our members’ skills and dedication.”
Almost 33,000 workers have been on strike since September 13th, seeking a 40% wage increase over four years.
The company will send out 60-day notices to thousands of workers including many in its commercial aviation department, which means that those staff members will have to leave the company by January.
A second phase of notices, if necessary, could be sent out in December, according to sources.
Furthermore, a spokesperson for the Boeing engineers, said the company informed the union on Monday that 60-day notices to its members would be issued on November 15th.
Managers were also told that plans for 10% reductions at its commercial unit were going to be put in place, which includes both union and non-union workers, according to a spokesperson.
Brian Bryant, the IAM’s international president, called the job cut plan “corporate greed at its worst.”
“Boeing just turned its back on 17,000 of its own workers — the same people who carried Boeing through crisis after crisis, year after year,” he said in a statement.
On Monday, shares of Boeing dropped 1.3% to close at 148.99 on Monday, following the company’s surprise after-hours job cut announcement on Friday, which also included a new delay to the 777X jetliner and the stoppage of civil 767 freighter production.
Boeing will stop from asking for voluntary departures to limit severance money and avoid an exodus of skills, citing that the company will rely only on involuntary layoffs. Rivals are scooping up shortage of labor to help alleviate pressure on aerospace supply chains.
“The trick will be not losing the 10% of people you want to keep, which is even more important than usual in the post pandemic skill shortage environment,” said Agency Partners analyst Nick Cunningham.
As a result, Boeing has been hiring workers to prepare for higher production rates that have not materialized.
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