News Is Slow To Come For Employees At Kansas, Oklahoma Plants

If you ask any worker at one of the Midwestern plants Boeing is selling to Onex, "What's up?" chances are you'll get a blistering look and an answer like, "Who knows? (liberally add expletives where appropriate)"

Union workers at the plants in Wichita, KS, as well as Tulsa and McAlester, OK, say they're being kept in the dark about their futures -- and they're not getting much in the way of information from the new owners. But one thing's sure: The entire Boeing-Onex deal could very well fall apart if labor groups don't play ball with the Canadian-based investment company.

"They've been pretty quiet," said Debbie Logsdon, Midwest SPEEA chairwoman, quoted by KAKE-TV in Wichita. "We haven't heard a whole lot. They don't want to release anything, from what I'm hearing, until they have an offer that they want to show the people and the members of the union."

But some employees say even the machinists' union and SPEEA are holding their cards a little too close to the vest. "We don't get a lot of information," employee Kevin Stuber told KAKE. "We get a few things from the union, but they're real vague and we'd like to hear more, because it has something to do with us, our job and our future."

There have been some ominous statements from Onex. First, workers were told they'd have to reapply for their jobs under the new ownership. Then they were told by Onex Managing Director Scott Mersky there will be "short-term pain for some," according to the KAKE report.

Onex is currently negotiating with the machinists. SPEAA workers will likely be called into the front office next. And just in case the unions feel Onex is picking on their members, Mersky told KAKE there are a lot of middle-managers who might not be around much longer. Some of their jobs, he said, aren't even necessary.

"So, those people either have to be redeployed in something more directly focused on the business or those jobs could be eliminated," said Mersky.

FMI: www.onex.com