Boeing will pay its employees who were furloughed during recent strikes by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union, a Seattle Times report stated.
According to the report, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a memo Thursday that the company will return pay lost by furloughed employees. The Seattle Times speculated that Ortberg did so to alleviate any perceived unfairness when machinists start returning to work with a $12,000 bonus for accepting the contract.
Boeing announced plans to cut 10% of its workforce in September due to a cash crunch at the company and costly IAM strikes began in the Pacific Northwest. The company has resumed production of its 737 jets after a pause due to the strikes.
“We will continue forward with our previously announced actions to reduce our workforce levels to align with our financial reality and a more focused and streamlined set of priorities,” Ortberg wrote Thursday, per The Seattle Times report. “These structural changes are important to our competitiveness and will help us deliver more value to our customers over the long term.”
