SPEEA Expresses Concern

Citing figures that show morale near all-time lows and experienced workers leaving, technical and professional employees at the Boeing Company are increasingly concerned about the direction the current leadership is taking the company, according to The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001, AFL-CIO.

Coupled with Boeing losing market share to its European rival, Airbus Industrie, the company needs to alter course, according to the union representing more than 20,000 Boeing employees in seven states. SPEEA e-mailed analysts a letter from Executive Director Charles Bofferding and a package of charts that illustrate changes in morale and eroding aerospace experience in the Boeing workforce.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Alan Mulally will make a presentation to the 11th Annual Bear Stearns Commercial Aerospace & Defense Conference in New York on Tuesday, March 2. He is scheduled to talk about company strategy, performance and the outlook for coming years.

"We are very concerned about the current investment levels (in research and development) and trends and their implications on our long-term performance," Bofferding writes. "We want to see Boeing 'lift its eyes to the future' by appropriately funding investment and acknowledge and work the demographic issues. These are critical actions that Boeing must take immediately to survive in the long-run."

FMI: www.speea.org