Mon, Oct 25, 2010
350 Salaried Employees Given 60 Days' Notice
It was another difficult Friday at Hawker Beechcraft last week
as some 350 salaried workers were handed layoff notices they have
been expecting since September. The company also announced a
timeline for a workforce reduction of about 800 union jobs.
President and CEO Bill Boisture reiterated that the economic
recovery had not lived up to projections made earlier this year,
and aircraft sales continue to be sluggish. He said it would be at
least another year before economic conditions improved to the point
that the industry would see significant gains. He said that the
union jobs would be gone by August of next year, with much of the
work transferred to the HBC facility in Mexico or
subcontractors.
Media sources including the Kansas Star and the
Wichita Eagle report that the timeline for moving work to
other facilities appears to be moving faster than originally
anticipated. In a letter to employees, Boisture said the company
would:
- Move operations out of Plant I no later than August 2011 and as
a result reduce employment by approximately 470.
- Move operations out of Plant II no later than May 2011 and as a
result reduce employment by approximately 30.
- Move King Air-related back shop operations out of Plant IV no
later than August 2011 and as a result reduce employment by
approximately 195.
- Move electrical and upholstery from Building 94 no later than
July 2011 and as a result reduce employment by approximately 80
employees.
- Complete the third and final phase of the outsourcing of our
Logistic Center operations by January 2011 and as a result reduce
union employment by another 45 employees.
The machinists union recently voted down a contract which
contained significant pay reductions and benefit cuts, but which
the company said made efforts to keep jobs in Wichita.
In the letter, Boisture (pictured) said that "reductions in
benefits affecting the salaried, non-union employees of Hawker
Beechcraft have saved the company approximately $4.5 million in
health care insurance costs and $5.7 million in matching 401(k)
contributions. Our salaried, non-union employees have also foregone
annual merit salary increases that have saved the company an
additional $15 million," over the past 24 months. He also said the
senior management team had pledged to take a 10 percent salary cut,
and that he personally had reduced his "contractually established"
salary by 10 percent as well.
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