Impact in Wichita
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, September 14, 2005
SPEEA is warning its members at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita that a furlough could be coming as a result of the Machinists union strike against Boeing, the Wichita Eagle http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/business/12637525.htm and the Wichita Business Journal http://wichita.bizjournals.com/wichita/stories/2005/09/12/daily18.html report.
Spirit, you may recall, announced that it was going to a three-day work week with the onset of the strike. Boeing is so far the only customer for the company, which Boeing spun off earlier this year.
Key Quote (from the Eagle): “SPEEA said that the company is not required to give advance notice if the layoffs last fewer than 60 days. It also said that employees could file with the state for unemployment benefits if they were temporarily laid off. The situation would be unusual. SPEEA members have never experienced a layoff related to a strike by another union, it said.”
Key Quote (from the Journal): ” ‘I don’t know if they’ve got any money coming in from the Boeing Co. or not,’ says Bob Brewer, Midwest Director for SPEEA. ‘If they don’t, how long are they willing to sustain even a three-day workweek. Those are the conversations we’re having with the company right now.’ “
And this note … the Eagle talked to industry analyst Paul Nisbet, who told the paper that this work stoppage has the potential to last longer than the Machinists’ 1995 strike, because the two sides are farther apart on the issues this time. The ‘95 strike lasted 69 days.
