NWLP-2-16-09:NWLP
1/20/09
10:45 AM
Page 7
Boeing to lay off 4,500 workers
Boeing Co. said Jan. 9 that it will
lay off 4,500 workers at its Commer-
cial Airplanes unit.
According to a memo sent to all
department employees, many of the
reductions will be in the form of over-
head functions, as well as normal at-
trition and a reduction in non-Boeing
labor. Layoff notices will be issued
Feb. 20.
The cuts are expected to occur pri-
marily in Washington State, where the
Commercial Airplanes Division
builds widebody planes such as the
747 in Everett and the 737 jets in
Renton. Boeing officials said the
workforce will be reduced to 63,500
workers — the same level of employ-
ees as in early 2008.
In Gresham, where Boeing em-
ploys some 1,200 members of Ma-
chinists Lodge 63, it was unknown
how many jobs would be eliminated.
“We got the memo, too,” said Bob
Petroff, directing business representa-
tive of Machinists District Lodge 24.
Petroff said specific job classifica-
tions or numbers have not been de-
fined, and that the memo was sent to
all employees in the division — both
represented and non-represented. “We
don’t anticipate a huge impact here,”
he said.
Machinist District Lodge 751
President Tom Wroblewski urged
Boeing to “do the right thing” by re-
leasing contract workers who are do-
ing maintenance and facilities work.
“We believe Boeing has many
other options available, and we will
push them to retain their valued em-
ployees,” Wroblewski said. “When
Boeing provides exact details on how
many IAM members and what job
codes are affected, we will issue a
more comprehensive statement and
present Boeing with additional alter-
natives to preserve these jobs,”
Boeing has said layoffs will de-
pend on skill sets. Spokesman Tim
Healy said contract workers who have
skills critical to producing airplanes
will not be let go.
The union said no airplane orders
have been canceled at this point and
that Boeing is continuing to hire pro-
duction workers.
Wroblewski said 32 new Machin-
...Solar project wages low
(From Page 3)
to pay prevailing wage. With the
Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC),
private construction projects can get
up to $10 million in public tax sub-
sidy without facing the prevailing
wage requirement.
The Oregon AFL-CIO is on record
calling for labor standards to be at-
tached to the BETC.
“Businesses who take advantage
of BETC have a responsibility to tax-
payers to create good jobs that pay a
family wage,” said Oregon AFL-CIO
president Tom Chamberlain in an e-
Q
mail to the Labor Press. “Unfortu-
nately, there is no accountability built
into this program, and we have not
seen data showing that good, family-
wage jobs have been created as a re-
sult of BETC. Instead, BETC seems
to have become another form of cor-
porate welfare. We hope to see data
that proves that BETC is working as it
was intended, but if that data doesn’t
exist, BETC needs to be reformed to
include accountability measures that
make sure that the companies who
take advantage of BETC uphold their
end of the contract with Oregon’s tax-
payers.”
Quest
Investment
Management, Inc.
ists have been added to the payroll in
January.
Boeing said the 58-day Machin-
ists’ strike last fall hurt its total yearly
delivery of commercial airplanes,
with the company reporting 375
planes delivered in 2008, down from
441 a year earlier.
Healy said the intent is to keep
production lines rolling, while cutting
costs.
“We’re going to be focused on
overhead positions that aren’t directly
involved in producing airplanes,” he
said. “We don’t anticipate a change in
our rate of production, we don’t want
to impact development programs like
787 and adversely impact the delivery
schedule they’re trying to meet.”
...Help is available
for laid of workers
at Freightliner
(From Page 1)
medium-duty Freightliner trucks.
Daimler will eliminate 1,290 produc-
tion line jobs in Cleveland, N.C., and
another 275 jobs at its parts manufac-
turing plant in Gastonia, N.C.
About 1,400 members of the Cana-
dian Auto Workers in St. Thomas, On-
tario, Canada, also are losing their jobs.
In Portland, union officials and the
company are meeting with affected em-
ployees to offer dislocated worker as-
sistance, with help from Labor’s Com-
munity Service Agency, the Oregon
AFL-CIO, and Work Systems Inc. The
IBEW and United Workers Federal
Credit Union is providing help with
budget counseling.
Jobs cuts are based on seniority, and
workers losing their jobs have been
with the company anywhere from 10 to
15 years.
The unions’ collective bargaining
agreement — which contains language
calling for good faith bargaining on a
severance package in the event of a
plant closure — expires in June 2010.
Kear said the sides intended to begin
severance negotiations earlier this year,
but bargaining for a severance package
in Ontario is going slowly.
Kear told the Labor Press talks
won’t begin in Portland until a deal is
finalized in Ontario.
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JANUARY 16, 2009
December 2008
Union certifications and decertifications in Oregon and Southwest
Washington, as reported by the National Labor Relations Board and
the Oregon Employment Relations Board
Recognition elections
Name of employer
Date
Name of union
Location
66
9
Turner Engineering
12/5
Iron Workers Local 516
11
18
61
24
Umpqua Dairy Products ( DECERTIFICATION )
12/15 Teamsters Local 962
Klamath Falls
70
61
Prestige Care Inc., Glisan Care Center
12/19 SEIU Local 503
Portland
18
16
Columbia Distributing
12/5
Teamsters Local 162
Vancouver
Portland
Recognition by card check
Location
Number of employees
Name of employer
Date Name of union
Imbler
17
Imbler School District (classified employees)
12/31 Oregon School Employees Association
Requests for recognition election
Name of employer
Name of union
Location
Number of employees
Sandy
26
US Metal Works ( DECERTIFICATION )
Iron Workers Shopmen’s Local 516
Kaiser Permanente (admitting specialists at Sunnyside)
Service Employees International Union Local 49
Portland
28
Albertsons (lobby employees)
United Food & Commercial Workers Local 555
Roseburg
3
Sodexho (Medford School District contracted cafeteria)
UNITE HERE/SEIU
Medford
81
Vigor Marine
Boilermakers Local 104
Portland
30
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