Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg moved to Seattle while 33,000 of the company’s workers took to the picket line. (Credit: Derrick Louie with Clarity Northwest Photography & Laura Halliday with Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty and KCPQ)
Boeing is beginning a series of furloughs in response to its largest labor union going on strike, according to a statement released to employees on Wednesday.
The strike involves over 33,000 workers in the Seattle area and began on Friday after unions overwhelmingly refused tentative contract negotiations provided by the company.
CEO Kelly Ortberg, who took on the role of chief executive last month, emailed all employees on “temporary furloughs” on Wednesday morning.
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“…We are initiating temporary furloughs over the coming days that will impact a large number of US-based executives, managers and employees,” wrote Ortberg. “All benefits will continue for affected employees, and to limit the impact to you, we are planning for selected employees to take one week of furlough every four weeks on a rolling basis for the duration of the strike.”
Additionally, Ortberg vowed that both he and his “leadership team” will be taking a pay reduction during the course of the strike, but did not offer details on how much.
A strike sign is pictured outside a Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, on Friday. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
The CEO established in writing that his plan to steer the troubled aerospace company through the strike is to avoid taking “any actions that inhibit our ability to fully recover in the future.”
Ortberg also clarified that production on the Boeing 787 will continue throughout the strike, which he stated as “prioritized.”
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This past week, Ortberg closed on a $4.1 million home in a gated community in Seattle to be nearer the flagship factories for Boeing.
The opulent purchase from their new CEO has been criticized by Boeing workers as evidence the company can pay their workers more.
Union members react as Aerospace Machinists District 751 President Jon Holden (out of frame) announces that union members rejected a proposed Boeing contract and will go on strike, following voting results at their union hall in Seattle on Friday. (Jason Redmond / AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“We know they got the money. If they can pay the CEO, they can pay us, too,” Boeing worker Ethel Dominique told FOX 13 Seattle on Friday.
“You know, we’re not asking for much. And we’re happy that he can afford a nice new mansion, some of us can’t. Some of us are paycheck to paycheck,” added Dominique.
Workers picket outside a Boeing Co. facility during a strike in Everett, Washington, on Monday. (M. Scott Brauer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The main demand from the striking workers with International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ Union (IAM) is a 40% pay raise.
Ortberg finished his email to employees on Wednesday on a somber note, writing that “this is a tough decision that impacts everybody” and calling the strike a “very difficult time” for Boeing.
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“We will continue to transparently communicate as this dynamic situation evolves and do all we can to limit this hardship,” he concluded.
