Boeing (BA) is about to start the countdown clock on 10% of its workforce losing their jobs. Reuters reports that the company will begin sending 60-day notices to affected employees next month.
Last week, Boeing said that it would be laying off about 17,000 of its workers amid an ongoing strike by its machinists, explicitly tying the two developments together when it told investors that its commercial prospects had been "impacted by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) work stoppage and charges in the commercial airplanes and defense segments."
Boeing, which had already announced plans to furlough workers during the strike, did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The IAM pushed back on the suggestion that it was to blame for the job cuts.
"It's important to state that the Machinists did not cause this by going on strike," it told its members on Saturday. "Our 30-day strike is a direct outcome of poor decision-making by Boeing's executives, who continue to disregard the voices of 33,000 of their workers."
The planemaker has been in a stalemate with its largest union during contract negotiations. The IAM went on strike after Boeing offered workers a 25% raise instead of the 40% they had been seeking. Boeing has since offered and rescinded a 30% raise, calling it the company's "best and final offer."
The strike is costing Boeing about $50 million a day in badly needed cash, according to some analysts. To that end, the company recently said that will try to raise as much as $35 billion in capital markets on top of $10 billion it borrowed earlier this year.
Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su visited the IAM Monday in hopes of renewing bargaining talks, but there are no dates on the calendar.