Auburn Boeing Plant Cutting Jobs

The cuts come on top of the 5,000 positions the company said it would eliminate across its commercial airplane division in 2003.

The cuts were denounced by labor leaders who have seen Boeing's work force slashed by more than 30,000 people since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In a memo sent to employees Tuesday, Liz Otis, vice president and general manager of Boeing's Fabrication Division, said the division will outsource less-complex jobs to cut costs and consolidate its operations. Shedding the work also will allow the division to focus on its expertise in manufacturing specialty items and troubleshooting, she said.

The division, which employs about 8,500, is responsible for manufacturing more than 12 million parts used in jets made by the Chicago-based aerospace company. Its largest site is in Auburn, south of Seattle, but it also produces parts in Frederickson, Portland, Ore., Salt Lake City, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Arnprior, Ontario.

Among the jobs Boeing will outsource are those of operators of machines that cut specialized parts out of aluminum for use in jet assembly, and manufacturing brackets and clips from sheet metal.

Otis said she hopes to achieve many of the cuts through attrition and reassigning employees to other work in the Puget Sound region. About 50 of the reductions will occur in 2003 with the rest in 2004.

With the commercial aviation industry in deep turmoil, the company as a whole needs to match its work force to the overall market, she said.

"Even though we had to take some deep cuts ... we had to do that to stay financially strong," Otis said in a phone interview. "That's the best guarantee I know of guaranteeing we have a future."

Boeing also plans to shrink its office and factory space, from its current 5.5 million square feet in Auburn to 4 million square feet by 2006.

Mark Blondin, president of Machinists union District 751, which represents Boeing production workers, said the company's cuts are shortsighted and will end up costing it more in quality control and fixing vendor errors. He expects about 200 of his members will be affected.

In addition, Blondin said workers have come up with many of the innovations that have made work simpler and more efficient -- and that they are now the victims of those advances.

"We've changed the processes, we've reduced the flow time, we've found the different ways of building (parts)," he said. "The more you try to make them successful, the more they look to send that work out."

Boeing regularly examines its manufacturing processes and operations to make them more efficient, said Todd Blecher, Boeing spokesman. He said he was not aware of any more reductions planned in the commercial airplane division, but "We are not at the end point of our efforts to get more efficient."