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 Brower | Bloomberg | Getty Images
boeing company The company will furlough thousands of top U.S. executives, managers and other workers, Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg told employees on Wednesday, citing an ongoing machinist strike as the company seeks 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 machinists in the Seattle area and Oregon voted overwhelmingly to reject a new labor contract, with 96 percent voting in favor of a strike that began 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 rising cost of living in the Seattle area and did not restore their pensions.
“We won’t beat around the bush – after a full day of mediation, we are frustrated,” the union said in a statement on Tuesday.
Ortberg, who took the job less than six weeks ago, said in a staff memo that affected employees will take one week off every four weeks during the strike and that he and his team will take a “corresponding” pay cut 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 freeze hiring and wage increases to cut costs and would temporarily lay off “non-essential contractors.”
West said the strike’s financial impact 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 that include a near-catastrophic door jam blowout. Influence.
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.
