Over 400 Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) union members have been let go after Boeing started sending layoff notices to employees on Wednesday.
The company announced in October it would let go of 17,000 employees – around 10% of its workforce – by January of next year.
The now-resolved machinists strike lasted 53 days and caused significant harm to Boeing’s profitability and production capabilities in the Pacific Northwest. The company has slowly started to ramp up production of its key 737 MAX aircraft again, which was stalled during the strikes.
Boeing notified SPEEA Thursday night that 438 of its members have, or will, receive layoff notices this week, a SPEEA spokesperson told AirlineGeeks in an emailed statement. Of those, 218 are engineers and 220 are technical workers.
“We are reviewing the data to ensure that Boeing followed the layoff procedures spelled out in our union contracts, and we are preparing meetings for next week with the laid-off members to help them understand their options and navigate the process of applying for unemployment,” the spokesperson said.
