Workers hold picket signs outside a Boeing Co. manufacturing plant during a strike on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Everett, Washington, U.S.
M. Scott Brauer Bloomberg | Getty Images
boeing company Will furlough thousands of U.S. executives, managers and other employees machinists strike Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg told employees on Wednesday that the company was racing to conserve cash.
A company spokesman said the furloughs will affect tens of thousands of Boeing employees.
The plan comes less than a week after Boeing’s more than 30,000 mechanics in the Seattle area and Oregon overwhelmingly Voted down new labor contract 96% voted in favor of a strike, which resulted in layoffs just after midnight on Friday.
Negotiations between the two sides continued this week with the help of mediators. Boeing offered a 25% wage increase, and the union approved a temporary contract. But some workers told CNBC the contract offer was rejected because the raises were not enough to match the increase in the cost of living in the Seattle area and did not restore their pensions.
Ortberg, he has Was at work Less than six weeks later, he said in a staff memo that affected employees would take one week off every four weeks during the strike and that he and his team would take pay cuts “correspondingly” during the strike.
“While this is a difficult decision that affects everyone, it is about safeguarding our long-term future and helping us get through this very difficult time. As the situation evolves, we will continue to communicate transparently and do everything we can to Limit this difficulty,” Ortberg said in his message.
Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said earlier this week that the company would Freezing hiring and salary increases To cut costs, “non-essential contractors” will be temporarily laid off.
West said the financial impact of the strike will depend on how long it lasts, but it adds to pressure on Boeing leaders as they try to steer the company away from safety and quality crises, including the fallout from the near-catastrophic door jam blowout. .
Ortberg said “activities critical to our safety, quality, customer support and critical certification programs will be prioritized and continue” including production of the 787 Dreamliner, which is based in South Carolina. Made in a non-union factory.
