Boeing Strike Impact

By David Shepardson

(Reuters) – The Republican governors of Utah, Missouri, and Montana on Tuesday urged Boeing (NYSE:BA) and the union representing 33,000 striking machinists to end a nearly seven-week-old strike, citing the impact on their states and Boeing's suppliers.

"The strike has far-reaching implications in our states," wrote Governors Spencer Cox, Mike Parson, and Greg Gianforte to Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).

"Boeing has stopped buying from most suppliers, many of whom are facing difficult decisions to furlough or lay off their own employees," they stated.

Boeing and IAM declined to comment on the letter.

In a separate email seen by Reuters, Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president of global supply chain for Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, informed hundreds of suppliers that the planemaker would need to continue a pause on shipping components for the 737, 767, and 777 programs.

"We understand this may drive you to take additional and difficult actions for your production schedules as well as for your teams," Mounir wrote. He added: "Our team will be in touch soon and we remain dedicated to continuing to work with you – part by part – to maintain as much stability in our shared production system as we can."

Last week's vote by 64% of Boeing's West Coast factory workers against the company's latest contract offer has idled assembly for nearly all of the planemaker's commercial jets and created fresh challenges for suppliers. No new talks have been scheduled since the rejection.

Boeing's vast global network of suppliers, producing parts from sprawling factories to small workshops, was already strained by the company’s quality-and-safety crisis that began in January after a mid-air panel blow-out on a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9.

Earlier this month, Boeing announced plans to cut 17,000 jobs globally – or 10% of its workforce – and to delay a key new jet by one year, among other cuts. On Tuesday, the company stated it had raised at least $21 billion in new capital.