Thu, Feb 19, 2009
Such A Move Would Put Planemaker At A "Competitive
Disadvantage"
In this time of corporate belt
tightening and massive layoffs, one might think existing workers
and management would be willing to shun their own bonuses and pay
raises this year, in order to preserve jobs and to show solidarity
with the nervous masses.
Yeah, right.
The Associated Press reports Boeing CEO Jim McNerney addressed
the issue in an email sent to employees at the planemaker Tuesday.
In the email -- which was reprinted in all its glory Wednesday by
the Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- McNerney wrote that freezing
wages and eliminating bonuses would be counterproductive.
"More than a few of you have written to me asking whether we
could avoid layoffs altogether by not paying incentive awards this
year or by freezing wages across the board," McNerney said. While
such a move might save some money and lessen short-term effects on
Boeing's workforce, McNerney said "our judgment (and one shared by
most major companies) is that they would put us at a competitive
disadvantage."
As ANN reported, Boeing announced last month
it would need to cut more jobs that originally anticipated in the
coming months... putting 10,000 workers in a "competitive
disadvantage" of their own by the end of this year.
So far, neither of the two largest labor unions at Boeing have
commented on McNerney's announcement. The International Association
of Machinists and Aerospace Workers successfully won a pay increase
last year, after striking the planemaker for eight weeks; the
Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace also
negotiated a more favorable contract for most of its workers.
Boeing spokesman John Dern said Wednesday he wasn't aware of any
formal proposals by any of Boeing's unions, suggesting they'd be
willing to take pay cuts in order to save jobs. Dern added
executive bonuses and raises for non-union staff would probably be
less this year, however, due to the global economic recession.
Last month, McNerney said "we are consciously restraining salary
growth this year in order to lessen the number of job cuts we need
to make while retaining flexibility to fund growth projects." He
made that statement while announcing employees participating in
Boeing's Employee Incentive Plan would receive six extra days of
pay, after meeting certain targets in 2008.
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