By Dan Catchpole
SEATTLE, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Boeing told employees last week that it plans to consolidate 787 engineering work in South Carolina as it ramps up production of its popular twin-aisle jet, the union representing its engineers said on Wednesday.
It would mean moving about 300 jobs from Washington state, where engineers are represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), to a non-union state, the union said.
Boeing’s two contracts with about 16,000 SPEEA members in Washington expire in October.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Separately, Boeing’s defense unit is cutting about 300 non-union supply chain jobs, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, as the company continues to adjust its workforce.
Some of the laid-off workers could end up filling open jobs elsewhere in the company, said the person, who was not authorized to publicly speak about personnel matters.
“Boeing regularly evaluates and adjusts its workforce to stay aligned to our commitments to our customers and communities,” a Boeing spokesperson said in an email.
The defense job cuts were first reported by Bloomberg News.
(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru and Dan Catchpole in Seattle; Editing by Pooja Desai and Jamie Freed)
