Oct. 8: Message to employees from Stephanie Pope, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Team,

I want to share my sincere appreciation for all that you are doing for our customers and each other at this challenging time. We understand that the steps we’re taking to preserve cash affect you and your loved ones. We do not take these impacts lightly as we take actions and consider next steps.

The strike in the Pacific Northwest has deeply affected our business, our customers and our communities.

Our leadership team has been doing all we can to find common ground with the union. We just concluded a third round of bargaining with a federal mediator, which included two days of negotiations this week. Our team bargained in good faith and made new and improved proposals to try to reach a compromise, including increases in take-home pay and retirement.

Unfortunately, the union did not seriously consider our proposals. Instead, the union made non-negotiable demands far in excess of what can be accepted if we are to remain competitive as a business. Given that position, further negotiations do not make sense at this point and our offer has been withdrawn.

This is a disappointing outcome and not one we wanted. We remain committed to finding a resolution and will work with the union when they are ready to bargain an agreement that recognizes our employees and preserves our company’s future.

I will provide updates and keep you informed throughout the process.
 

Stephanie