IAM jobs on the line: 1,113

Since the first of the year, Boeing has issued WARN (job layoff notices) for 1,113 union jobs belonging to the International Association of Machinists.

Job security was a major goal of the IAM in last year’s 57 day strike that began in September and cost Boeing billions of dollars. The IAM touted the final agreement, preserving 4,500 jobs, as a major victory.

6 Comments on “IAM jobs on the line: 1,113

  1. Look at how many jobs Boeing could keep if they would just get rid of the guy running the company into the ground and his 14.8 million dollar bonus! Trim a lot of the fat off the top, keep the hardworking employees working, stop outsourcing and Boeing would have the leading company they once had!

  2. Since I saw this post yesterday, I had a chance to converse with a machinist aquaintance of mine via e-mails.

    What he told me was quite compelling.

    These cuts, overall, were expected as part of a general cost cutting move. Initially, Boeing had stated that overhead labor would be the bulk of the cuts. Instead, hands-on labor in the form of machinists union positions seem to be making up the bulk of the cuts.

    He said. “It’s not so much the cuts, as who is being cut”. He directed me here:

    http://www.iam751.org/pages/warnentirelist.htm

    Then he went on to explain:

    If you look at the job codes involved, some are very apparantly due to outsourcing, like millwrights, and facilities electricians.

    But he said that the ones that hurt, the ones that make no sense, and the ones that imperil production are jobs like :
    30304 ASSEMBLER INSTALLER GENERAL B, slated to lose 214 positions so far.

    He said that this postion was the front line, basic infantry at Boeing, the basic aircraft assembler.

    I then asked how the manufacturing operations would be affected, and I’ll give you the direct quote:

    ” Were drowning now, we’re are working ten hours a day, 19 days on, 2 off. What do you think? Every one with a notice has assigned work. They aren’t surplus. When they leave, these is nobody there to pick up the slack.”

    Then the conversation turned to rates. He said that like everyone else, Boeing is telling it’s staff that no rate cuts this year are in the program, but that nobody believed it, and that the layoff notices given to direct labor employees in Everett final assembly only reenforce that disbelief.

    We spoke of other things, morale, productivity,etc.

    But generally, these layoffs, or more precisely, the nature of these layoffs, are generally another indication of potential unnanounced production rate cuts.

  3. I’m still confused how 1,113 cuts out of 10,000 layoffs total can be considered “most” or “the bulk” of the layoffs as I’ve read in multiple articles recently.

    Overhead support people are still the most affected group by far, not the machinists.

  4. A little clarity: When BCA announced the first set of 4,500 layoffs, the officials said no IAM production people would be laid off. The additional 5,500 are across the rest of the company.

    Therefore, mathematically 1,113 is about 25% of the 4,500. About 880 of these are production jobs, the IAM told us today.

  5. Speaking strictly of Boeing commercial, 4500 layoffs are schedualed to occur by years end according to statements made by Scott Carson.

    At the outset, Boeing spokespersons claimed machinist union labor would be ” minimally impacted”.

    Layoffs will occur monthly until the requisite numbers are attained. So far, in commercial airplanes, the machinist union workers have taken the brunt of the layoffs. IF the trend continues, more than half of the 4500 number will be machinist union labor. Or roughly speaking, 8% to 10% of the total IAM workforce.

    When speaking of commercial aircraft production and rates, apples must be separated from oranges.

    Since I see no production efficiencies being implemented that would warrant those sort of redundancies, it can only bode ill for either deliveries, or rates. Perhaps both.

  6. It’s all in the power of statistics ;).

    Either way, the total of 1,113 of 10,000 (~10%) is *not* the most or bulk of the layoffs as I’ve read on other comment boards.

    I believe IAM and its people needs to chill a bit, there are a lot of other people being affected then just them around here.

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