Union Says Boeing Violated Contract; Seeks ‘No Layoff’ Guarantee for 787 Engineers

“SPEEA and Boeing had a meeting of our Joint Workforce Committee on Thursday, January 29th," said SPEEA executive director Ray Goforth. "The committee’s purpose is for Boeing to provide SPEEA with guidance on how company decisions impact our membership, including any possible work movement.  At that meeting, Boeing informed SPEEA that there were no company decisions in the foreseeable future that would impact work statement or employment levels for SPEEA members.

"Thus, it was with great surprise and disappointment that Boeing unilaterally announced to our members the very next morning that the remaining 787 engineering work would be moved to South Carolina," Goforth said.  "The failure of the company to honor its contractual obligation to notify us of such decisions is profoundly disappointing.  Worse yet, the company has not yet answered basic questions about timing and process of the move."  

Consistent with Boeing's representations at the Joint Workforce Committee, SPEEA requested that Boeing help assuage our members’ concerns with a guarantee that no members would be laid off due to this decision. Boeing (at least initially) rebuffed this request.

"The Joint Workforce Committee is part of our collective bargaining agreements with Boeing for the purpose of surfacing company decisions like this so we can put into place a plan for reassignment or retraining of our impacted members," said Goforth.

“Our members have very legitimate concerns about their future with the company and how long they can expect to earn a paycheck in their current roles. The indifference to these concerns, evidenced by how this decision was announced, casts a pall over upcoming contract negotiations,” he said.