Boeing has told workers who were furloughed without pay during a 53-day strike by tens of thousands of factory workers that they will be repaid, but the embattled aircraft manufacturer intends to press ahead with sweeping job cuts.
Last month, Boeing shared with workers that it would slash around 10% of its workforce in the coming months as the company desperately tries to cut costs in the wake of the strike.
In an internal memo, CEO Kelly Ortberg thanked employees for the “sacrifices” they made during the crippling strike but warned that a return to work by machinists at Boeing’s aircraft assembly lines in Portland and Seattle didn’t mean that job cuts were being suspended.
“Your sacrifice made a difference and helped the company bridge to this moment,” Ortberg said in the memo, addressing some of the thousands of employees who had been furloughed shortly after the machinists went on strike.
“We want to acknowledge your support by returning your lost pay if you went on unpaid furlough,” the memo continued.
That was, however, where the good news ended.
“We will continue forward with our previously announced actions to reduce our workforce levels to align with our financial reality and a more focused and streamlined set of priorities,” Ortberg said.
“These structural changes are important to our competitiveness and will help us deliver more value to our customers over the long term.”
Boeing intends to serve affected employees with a 60-day notice on November 15, informing them that their jobs are at risk. Redundancies will hit executives and managers, as well as other employees.
Earlier this week, more than 30,000 machinists who work in Puget Sound on some assembly lines for some of Boeing’s best-selling aircraft, including the 737MAX, voted to halt their nearly two-month-long strike.
At the conclusion of a short 24-hour ballot, the IAM District 751 union announced that 59% of its members who took part in the poll had voted in favor of a new pay deal, which includes a raise of 38% over four years, along with a $12,000 ratification bonus, and a $5,000 lump sum payment into 401k plans.
The deal was brokered with the help of senior Biden administration officials who had stepped in to bring the two sides back to the bargaining table after Boeing attempted to push a non-negotiated contract on workers.
Other cost-cutting measures previously announced by Boeing include a ban on even senior executives traveling in First or Business Class for work trips and a push for employees to conduct meetings remotely rather than in person.
