The aerospace giant said it would temporarily lay off tens of thousands of employees to stem losses from a walkout by the machinists’ union.
Boeing will start furloughing tens of thousands of employees in the coming days as it seeks to blunt the effects of a strike involving its largest union, the company said on Wednesday.
The strike, which began on Friday, has drastically slowed production of commercial airplanes because most of the union’s more than 33,000 members work in manufacturing in the Seattle area. Boeing announced a series of cost-cutting measures this week to stem losses that could reach into the billions of dollars in a prolonged strike.
“With production paused across many key programs in the Pacific Northwest, our business faces substantial challenges and it is important that we take difficult steps to preserve cash and ensure that Boeing is able to successfully recover,” the company’s chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, said in a message to employees on Wednesday.
Source: NY Times
