Boeing Hands out 1,737 More Layoff Notices

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 24, 2001

Boeing Hands out 1,737 More Layoff Notices

U.S. aerospace giant Boeing Company handed out 1,737 more layoff notices on Friday as part of its broad plan to cut 30 percent of its commercial airplanes workforce due to weakened aircraft demand.

U.S. aerospace giant Boeing Company handed out 1,737 more layoff notices on Friday as part of its broad plan to cut 30 percent of its commercial airplanes workforce due to weakened aircraft demand.

Among the layoffs on 60-day notice, 1,287 employees are workingin the Seattle area and another 450 outside Seattle, Boeing said in a statement. Boeing's Commercial Airplanes unit remains in Seattle, Washington, although the company headquarters were movedto Chicago in September.

This is the third round of layoffs announced by Boeing's Commercial Airplanes unit, which planned to cut 30,000 jobs by themiddle of next year. So far a total of 16,637 layoff notices have been handed out since the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

The company expected a sharp decline in aircraft demand due to the heavy blow to the airlines industry from the terrorist attacks.The next round of layoffs are expected to be announced in January,the company said.

Boeing's Machinists union, which represents Boeing production workers, filed two grievances saying that some workers should haveretained their jobs if work that should have remained in-house wasnot given to contractors.

The union argued that its contract bars layoffs of union members whose work is shifted to outside contractors. It has askedBoeing to reduce the number of layoffs by bringing back in-house work that has been given out to contractors.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes unit chief Alan Mulally cautioned last week that, as many suppliers were forced to close their doorsdue to Boeing actions, Boeing would not be able to get enough components once the business improves.

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