Boeing freezes hires, weighs furloughs to cut costs in labour strike
Al Jazeera
US factory workers are venting anger as wages over the past decade have lagged behind inflation while executive bonuses have ballooned.
Boeing is freezing hiring and is weighing temporary furloughs in the coming weeks to manage costs as a strike by more than 30,000 Boeing workers who build planes in factories on the West Coast of the United States stretched into its fourth day on Monday.
The strike would also impact spending on Boeing’s supply chain, since it would stop issuing the majority of supplier purchase orders on the 737, 767 and 777 programmes affected by the stoppage, CFO Brian West told employees.
“I know that these actions will create some uncertainty and concern,” West wrote in a letter shared on Monday.
“This strike jeopardizes our recovery in a significant way and we must take necessary actions to preserve cash and safeguard our shared future.”
The decision to stop placing most orders for parts for all Boeing jetliner programmes except the 787 Dreamliner is exceptionally rare, and will send shock waves through an industry still struggling to rebuild from the bottom up after COVID-19.
