Boeing Under Investigation for Moving Jobs to Non-Union Sites

Image Credit: Reuters

Boeing's engineering union is conducting a formal investigation into claims from its members that the company is shifting work to non-union locations within the United States and abroad.  

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) initiated its inquiry in December, requesting relevant information from Boeing, according to Rich Plunkett, SPEEA’s Director of Strategic Development. Union representatives are concerned that Boeing is leveraging a company-wide downsizing initiative to relocate work away from the Seattle area, where SPEEA represents 17,000 employees.  

In October, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg announced plans to reduce the workforce by approximately 10%, equating to 17,000 jobs, as part of efforts to "align with our financial reality." The aerospace giant reported nearly $8 billion in losses during the first nine months of 2024 and is expected to disclose further losses when its year-end financial results are released on Tuesday.  

Between November and December, Boeing issued layoff notices to over 4,000 U.S. workers, including 660 SPEEA members, according to public employment records and union data.  

Following the initial wave of layoffs, union members raised concerns that some of the jobs eliminated are being transferred to other Boeing facilities, Plunkett stated.  

Boeing has not provided a comment on the matter.

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.