Boeing to Resume Production At Plant in Canada After Strike
May 01, 2011
SEATTLE -- Boeing Co. said it expects to resume production this week at its Winnipeg, Manitoba, aircraft-components facility, following settlement late last week of a five-week strike. Boeing said members of the Canadian Auto Workers union approved a new three-year contract late last week. A company spokesman said the pact calls, among other things, for wage increases of 2%, 2%, and 1.5% in each of the three years. The agreement covers a sharply reduced work force and diminished plant output. During the strike, Boeing transferred nearly two-thirds of the Winnipeg plant's production capacity to its Auburn, Wash., facility and issued layoff notices to 212 employees of the 870-member Winnipeg work force. The Winnipeg facility makes carbon-fiber sections of the company's largest passenger jets. Boeing's spokesman said the company will resume production with about 350 workers this week. It expects later to recall another 300 employees. The 212 who were laid off during the strike remain terminated and will receive training for other work under Canadian government programs. The spokesman said Boeing will determine shortly just how much production capacity will be returned to the Winnipeg plant.
