Spirit AeroSystems eyes tougher measures in face of Boeing strike

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Oct 28, 2008 by Kirby Lee Davis

Spirit AeroSystems Inc. officials are formulating more stringent measures to contain losses as the strike against prime customer Boeing entered its eighth week.

Negotiations continued Monday to end the 52-day strike by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The work stoppage started Sept. 6, three days after workers rejected Boeing's last contract offer over the traditionally contested areas of job security, wages, retirement benefits and medical coverage.

That spurred Spirit to adopt a 24-hour workweek for most of its 1,800 workers in Tulsa and 290 in McAlester.

Boeing products comprise more than 80 percent of the Tulsa contract work performed by Wichita, Kan.-based Spirit, said spokesman Joe Jarrett.

As the strike entered its seventh week, speculation rose that Spirit may soon resort to laying off workers.

"We are looking at other alternatives," said Jarrett, although he did not use that term.

Other Boeing contractors also are feeling the pinch.

On Monday, Wellington, Fla., aircraft-interior maker B/E Aerospace Inc. warned that its 2009 earnings will be lower than expected due to the Boeing strike and the weakening national economy.

On Thursday, federal mediators called both sides back to the negotiating table.

USA Today reports five Boeing factories have been idled, affecting assembly of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner - now more than a year behind schedule - and mainstays 737s, 777s, 767s, and 747s.

Boeing, which by itself normally accounts for a large chunk of U.S. exports, delivered only 84 planes in the third quarter, down from 109 a year ago.

The machinist union represents about 25,000 workers in and around Seattle, 1,500 in Gresham, Ore., and 750 in Wichita, Kan., the Associated Press reports.

Spirit will release its quarterly earnings on Wednesday. Jarrett said that report would provide details on the Boeing strike impact.

"It's getting to be a difficult condition, not just for our folks getting to work with a short workweek, but also for our workers in Puget Sound," he said.

Those workers must live off a weekly strike salary of $150.

"That's not close to the typical salary they usually draw down," said Jarrett.