Boeing to furlough 10s of 1,000s of workers as Machinists strike bites

In response to the Machinists strike, Boeing on Wednesday said it will institute rolling unpaid furloughs for tens of thousands of nonunion employees for the duration of the Machinists strike, which began last week.

“With production paused across many key programs in the Pacific Northwest, our business faces substantial challenges,” new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told employees in an internal message Wednesday morning. “It is important that we take difficult steps to preserve cash.”

“This is a tough decision that impacts everybody,” he added. “It is in an effort to preserve our long-term future.”

The furloughs, or temporary layoffs, will be implemented on a rolling basis, with employees taking one week off unpaid every four weeks as long as the strike lasts.

Boeing executives, managers and other employees, both salaried and hourly, will be impacted. Employees are set to learn the details Wednesday from their supervisors.

Furloughed employees will continue to receive their medical benefits.

Work on projects “critical to our safety, quality, customer support and key certification programs will be prioritized and continue,” Ortberg said. 

That will include 787 production at Boeing’s non-unionized plant in South Carolina.

Ortberg said he and his leadership team will take a “commensurate pay reduction” for the duration of the strike. He didn’t specify the pay cut amounts.

Boeing and the Machinists are meeting Wednesday to continue negotiations, after restarting talks Tuesday under federal mediation. Union members overwhelmingly rejected a contract proposal last Thursday on the eve of the strike.

The first day of mediation didn’t go well.

“After a full day of mediation, we are frustrated,” the union wrote in a message to members late Tuesday. “The company was not prepared and was unwilling to address the issues you’ve made clear are essential for ending this strike: Wages and Pension.

“The company doesn’t seem to be taking mediation seriously.”

Yet Ortberg in his message Wednesday said “we remain committed to resetting our relationship with … the union to reach a new agreement that is good for all of our teammates and our company as soon as possible.”