By Bryan Corliss
Herald Writer
The Boeing Co. has pledged to pay full severance benefits to laid-off workers even though a clause in the contracts with its two main unions allows it to cut off those payments during a national emergency.
The president of the engineers and technicians union said he emerged from a Thursday meeting with the feeling that Boeing officials are going to do what they can for the 20,000 to 30,000 people expected to be laid off in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"I’ve got to tell you, the people in that room I’m convinced are committed to making some good things happen," said Charles Bofferding, president of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.
A lot remains unknown about the timing and process of the layoffs, which will take jobs away from 20 to 30 percent of Boeing’s workers in its commercial airplanes and shared services divisions around Puget Sound.
Managers simply have not had time to develop answers to a lot of the questions being asked, Boeing Commercial Airplanes spokesman Bill Cogswell said. "It’s too early to give any definite answers," he said.
But union officials said some details did emerge from meetings with managers on Thursday.
Layoff notices likely will start going out soon, perhaps next week, but more likely in two weeks, according to the International Association of Machinists District 751. Machinists in Auburn, Spokane, Portland, Ore., and Wichita, Kan., will be among the first to get the word.
However, at least for SPEEA-represented people, the layoffs won’t take effect right away, Bofferding said. "We wouldn’t expect anyone to go out the door before the end of the year."
The layoffs will be implemented proportionally across the Commercial Airplane group, according to the Machinists. About two-thirds of the 92,000 jobs are around Puget Sound, but Boeing also has commercial jet workers in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Canada.
Boeing will pay Machinists union members the full severance benefit outlined in the contracts, Machinists union spokeswoman Connie Kelliher said.
A clause in the contracts does allow Boeing to opt out of severance payments if layoffs are the result of an "act of God, natural disaster or national emergency," she said.
But Cogswell confirmed Friday that Machinists will get full severance, including one week of pay for every year of seniority up to 26 weeks. They’ll also receive six months of medical benefits and $4,000 a year for three years to pay for job retraining.
SPEEA-represented workers also will get one week of pay for each year of seniority, with the same 26-week cap. Their medical benefits will be extended for three months.
Both unions are urging Boeing to call for voluntary layoffs. The company will consider it, according to the Machinists.
Both unions proposed early retirement buyouts. Those are unlikely, the Machinists union said.
Cogswell said it isn’t clear how layoffs will proceed among nonunion workers. "We’re assessing the whole situation now."
You can call Herald Writer Bryan Corliss at 425-339-3454
or send e-mail to corliss@heraldnet.com.
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