Such A Move Would Put Planemaker At A "Competitive Disadvantage"

In this time of corporate belt tightening and massive layoffs, one might think existing workers and management would be willing to shun their own bonuses and pay raises this year, in order to preserve jobs and to show solidarity with the nervous masses.

Yeah, right.

The Associated Press reports Boeing CEO Jim McNerney addressed the issue in an email sent to employees at the planemaker Tuesday. In the email -- which was reprinted in all its glory Wednesday by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- McNerney wrote that freezing wages and eliminating bonuses would be counterproductive.

"More than a few of you have written to me asking whether we could avoid layoffs altogether by not paying incentive awards this year or by freezing wages across the board," McNerney said. While such a move might save some money and lessen short-term effects on Boeing's workforce, McNerney said "our judgment (and one shared by most major companies) is that they would put us at a competitive disadvantage."

As ANN reported, Boeing announced last month it would need to cut more jobs that originally anticipated in the coming months... putting 10,000 workers in a "competitive disadvantage" of their own by the end of this year.

So far, neither of the two largest labor unions at Boeing have commented on McNerney's announcement. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers successfully won a pay increase last year, after striking the planemaker for eight weeks; the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace also negotiated a more favorable contract for most of its workers.

Boeing spokesman John Dern said Wednesday he wasn't aware of any formal proposals by any of Boeing's unions, suggesting they'd be willing to take pay cuts in order to save jobs. Dern added executive bonuses and raises for non-union staff would probably be less this year, however, due to the global economic recession.

Last month, McNerney said "we are consciously restraining salary growth this year in order to lessen the number of job cuts we need to make while retaining flexibility to fund growth projects." He made that statement while announcing employees participating in Boeing's Employee Incentive Plan would receive six extra days of pay, after meeting certain targets in 2008.

FMI: www.boeing.com