Workers hold picket signs outside a Boeing Co. manufacturing plant during a strike on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Everett, Washington, U.S.
M. Scott Brauer Bloomberg | Getty Images
boeing company Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg told employees on Wednesday that the company would furlough “a significant number” of U.S. executives, managers and other workers, citing an ongoing machinists’ strike as the company seeks to conserve cash.
A company spokesman said the furloughs will affect tens of thousands of Boeing employees.
The plan comes less than a week after more than 30,000 Boeing machinists in the Seattle area and Oregon voted down a new labor contract, with 96% voting in favor of a strike that began just after midnight on Friday.
Ortberg said affected employees will take one week off every four weeks during the strike and that he and his team will take pay cuts “correspondingly” during the strike.
“While this is a difficult decision that affects everyone, it is about safeguarding our long-term future and helping us get through this very difficult time. As the situation evolves, we will continue to communicate transparently and do everything we can to Limit this difficulty,” Ortberg said in his message.
Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said earlier this week that the company would freeze hiring and wage increases to cut costs and would temporarily lay off “non-essential contractors.”
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