Oct. 18 Statement from SPEEA About Spirit AeroSystems’ Furlough Announcement

At this point, we don’t know of any direct impacts on the jobs of any SPEEA-represented employees at Spirit Aerosystems. We have reached out to Spirit management to clarify some points of this morning’s announcement, and we are closely monitoring developments.

Our contract with Spirit does allow for shortened work weeks, but not furloughs, which are temporary layoffs.

The Boeing strike does add another element of uncertainty to our talks with management at Spirit toward a new contract for members of our Wichita Engineering Unit. However, we remain committed to working out a new deal that rewards Spirit engineers for their contributions to the company and ensures that our employer will be able to attract and retain top-tier talent. We expect to return to negotiations the week of Oct. 27.

SPEEA President John Dimas said the Spirit furlough announcement “actually represents yet another failure by Boeing management.”

“Instead of presenting the Machinists Union members in Seattle and Portland with a contract that reflects the value they create for the company, Boeing has decided to keep the union on strike, which will have cascading impacts on Spirit and other companies throughout the industry,” Dimas said. “This not only has jeopardized the Boeing Co.’s future competitiveness, it also puts our nation’s aerospace industry supply chain at risk.”

RELATED: Contract Talks for 1,000 Spirit Engineers on Hold Until Oct. 28