Boeing issues layoff notices to 400-plus

Boeing has delivered layoff notices to more than 400 members of its professional aerospace labor union, part of thousands of cuts planned as the company struggles to recover from financial and regulatory trouble as well as an eight-week strike by its machinists’ union.

The pink slips went out last week to members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or SPEEA, The Seattle Times reported. The workers will remain on the payroll through mid-January.

Boeing announced in October that it planned to cut 10% of its workforce, about 17,000 jobs, in the coming months. CEO Kelly Ortberg told employees the company must “reset its workforce levels to align with our financial reality.”

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or SPEEA, union said the cuts had affected 438 members. The union’s local chapter has 17,000 Boeing employees who are largely based in Washington, with some in Oregon, California and Utah. Of those 438 workers, 218 are members of SPEEA’s professional unit, which includes engineers and scientists. The rest are members of the technical unit, which includes analysts, planners, technicians and skilled tradespeople.

Eligible employees will receive severance.

AP cutting jobs, offering buyouts

The Associated Press said Monday that it would begin offering buyouts and lay off selected employees, part of a plan to reduce the news outlet’s staff by about 8% and accelerate a transition to a digital-first organization.

The move is part of what is expected to be a dispiriting end-of-year period in the news industry, which is beset by business woes that go back years. The end of a busy presidential-election cycle was also expected to accelerate reorganization plans.

The AP said those eligible for buyouts were to learn of the offer, which would include severance pay and partial health coverage for 18 months, by the end of Monday. Those whose positions are due to be eliminated would learn about their fates over the next few weeks. Once considered the world’s largest newsgathering organization, the AP no longer makes that claim and does not reveal the size of its staff. As a result, it was impossible to say on Monday how many people would be affected.

Amazon, SpaceX challenge labor agency’s constitutionality

Attorneys for Amazon and Elon Musk’s SpaceX argued in a federal appeals court Monday that the National Labor Relations Board’s structure is unconstitutional, advancing a legal fight that may last into the Trump administration where Musk is expected to oversee bureaucratic cost-cutting.

A panel of three judges at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard separate oral arguments in the SpaceX and Amazon lawsuits, which the two companies initiated after the labor agency filed complaints against them in disputes about workers’ rights and union organizing.

A ruling in favor of the companies could immensely diminish – or paralyze — the nearly century-old agency, which is tasked with enforcing labor laws and settling labor-related complaints workers lodge against their employers. The issue may eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority and has issued rulings curbing the power of government agencies,

The three appellate judges who heard Monday’s arguments questioned the legal maneuvering by Amazon and SpaceX to get their cases to the 5th Circuit, where jurists nominated by Republican presidents dominate the appeals court.

Compiled from The Associated Press and City News Service reports.