SEATTLE – Boeing Co. confirmed Wednesday that it will begin laying off commercial airplane workers Dec. 14 and that about 10 percent of the division’s work force could be gone by the end of the year.
“That (Dec. 14) is 10 days before Christmas. That is not good news for our members and their families,” said Mark Blondin, president of the International Association of Machinists District Lodge 751. “We are working daily with the company to try to mitigate the impact of this job loss.”
Boeing officials said the timing was necessary under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires the company to give union employees 60 days’ notice of job cuts.
The company said it plans to begin notifying workers Oct. 12, in compliance with the WARN Act.
Boeing will not follow the lead of several airlines, which have cited clauses in some labor contracts to void severance packages and other pay outs to laid off workers.
“Boeing intends to follow the spirit and intent outlined in all its labor contracts and will make layoff benefit payments to all represented employees who are affected by a layoff,” company spokesman Tom Ryan said.
Last week, Boeing announced plans to lay off 20 percent to 30 percent of its commercial airplanes employees, or as many as 30,000 workers, in the wake of the terrorist disaster two weeks ago.
On Wednesday, Ryan said that after the initial 10 percent cut, the company planned to eliminate another 10 percent of commercial aircraft jobs by June. A third group of workers, also representing about 10 percent of the original work force, will be laid off by the end of 2002, he said.
The economic downturn and a fear of flying after the hijacking attacks have severely impacted airlines, which in turn are delaying orders and deliveries of Boeing planes.
Southwest Airlines, one of the few major carriers to avoid layoffs so far, said that delivery of 11 Boeing 737s, scheduled by the end of the year, will be deferred. Officials of the carrier also said Tuesday they were negotiating over 27 deliveries that were scheduled in 2002.
The Machinists and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees said they were talking with Boeing about voluntary layoffs, reductions in overtime and cancelation of subcontracting in favor of keeping more work in-house.
However, company officials have said that early retirement buyouts and any cancelation of subcontracting is highly unlikely.
For hourly production workers represented by the Machinists, involuntary layoffs are determined by seniority within job classifications. Engineers, scientists and technicians covered by SPEEA face layoffs according to retention ratings, which reflect job performance and value to the company.
Laid-off workers are entitled to receive one week of pay for each full year of service, up to a maximum of 26 weeks of day.
On the Net:
Machinists District Lodge 751: www.iam751.org
SPEEA: www.speea.org
Boeing: www.boeing.com
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