American aircraft manufacturer Boeing has announced temporary cutbacks as its staff goes on strike for the fourth day. For example, no new staff will be hired for a while and the company will stop major investments.
Boeing’s top brass is freezing ongoing hiring processes. The company is also threatening to reconsider planned furloughs for employees, managers and executives in the coming weeks. Most employee travel is also being canceled.
In addition to the cuts in personnel, Boeing is also suspending spending on, for example, suppliers.
Some 33,000 Boeing workers at factories on the U.S. West Coast have been on strike since Friday after they were offered a 25 percent wage increase spread over four years. But workers are angry that wages have been stagnant for a decade and are demanding more.
Boeing CEO Brian West said Monday that this strike is a significant threat to Boeing’s recovery. According to him, the cuts are necessary to save money and secure Boeing’s future. The company will meet with the union again on Tuesday.
This is the eighth strike since the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), Boeing’s largest union, was founded in the 1930s. The last strikes, in 2008 and 2005, lasted 57 and 28 days, respectively.
The aircraft manufacturer was already in trouble before the work stoppage due to a series of incidents. For example, earlier this year a door of an aircraft suddenly came loose in the air because bolts were missing. Also, an aircraft suddenly lost a wheel and a wing of another Boeing aircraft caught fire. Boeing’s production is somewhat lower because of this, which is costing the company money.
