Boeing will close seven buildings in Everett; nearly 1,900 jobs to move
Nearly 1,900 jobs will be shifted to new locations, including at least 200 in the Everett duct and tube center that will be shipped 54 miles south to Auburn. Another 15 jobs will be moved 46 miles south to Kent.
Most of the remaining jobs will be relocated elsewhere in Everett, but studies of the 777 spar-assembly work remain under way and it is not yet clear where those jobs will land.
The latest moves involve 1.2 million square feet of space. In the past two years, Boeing has announced plans to reduce its Puget Sound-area footprint by more than 11 million square feet — 3.3 million in Everett, 2 million in Renton and 6 million spread across Auburn, Kent and Seattle. By comparison, the Bank of America Tower, Seattle's tallest building, has 1.5 million feet of floor space.
Consolidation of some duplicate job functions could result in layoffs, primarily as the Everett duct and tube work is moved to the Auburn duct and tube center.
The company expects to cut most positions through attrition, but "some surpluses may be required," according to internal Boeing documents.
"We can't guarantee or promise anything, but we're talking about a move that will take two years, and we're talking about a handful of potential surpluses," said Sandy Angers, a Boeing spokeswoman.
The closures, which will be completed by 2005, are the latest in a series of rapid-fire moves over the past two years aimed at significantly shrinking Boeing's footprint in the Puget Sound area.
"We are working very hard to transform into a lean, global enterprise," said John Quinlivan, Everett site executive, in an e-mail to Everett employees Monday. "By managing our resources effectively, we can remain competitive, thereby maintaining and creating job opportunities in the long-term."
The five largest buildings to be vacated are clustered in the northwest corner of the Everett site.
The other two are engineering buildings that house the Sonic Cruiser and other product-development teams. They are adjacent to the Bomarc building, where Boeing developed the world's first long-range anti-aircraft missiles.
Boeing said in August it would vacate the Bomarc building and two buildings at its Harbour Pointe facility in Mukilteo, representing 1.2 million square feet. The company is trying to lease those three buildings.
No decision has been made on what will happen to the additional seven buildings to be vacated.
News of the consolidation plans troubled workers and representatives of Boeing's largest unions, who have seen the company target more than 30,000 jobs for elimination in the past year.
"Whether you're a person in one of those buildings that has to move, or you're one of the people seeing the company laying people off and vacating buildings where people once worked, it's a concern," said Bill Dugovich, spokesman for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.
"Our priority remains ensuring that all our members' jobs remain secure, and that the work moves into other Boeing buildings and no one is displaced," said Connie Kelliher, spokeswoman for the International Association of Machinists, District 751.
Some Machinists are especially concerned about the closures of two buildings, known as 40-03 and 40-05, which handle a large amount of shipping and receiving.
The Machinists' new contract, which went into effect Sept. 14, allows suppliers onto the Boeing shop floor and could result in the displacement of union workers.
Boeing insisted the two developments are not linked.
"We're still looking at where we would apply this materials-management process" under the new contract, said Boeing's Chuck Cadena.
It's not clear where the 777 spar will be assembled, but moving it will be a major logistical task. A spar is an internal wing-support structure that runs the full length of a wing, or 97 feet in the case of the 777. Boeing builds spars for its other aircraft models in Auburn and at the Wing Responsibility Center in Frederickson, south of Tacoma.
The move of the Sonic Cruiser team has no bearing on the status of the proposed high-speed jet, or the potential for it to be assembled in Everett, Boeing said. "It's really a facilities decision and has very little to do with the program itself," said Lori Gunter, Sonic Cruiser spokeswoman.
Machinists to get bonuses
Boeing Machinists will receive a one-time, 8 percent bonus Oct. 18 as called for by the union's three-year contract that went into effect Sept. 14.
The contract calls for Boeing to distribute the bonuses no later than Nov. 1.
The money will be a welcome financial infusion for the struggling Puget Sound-area economy. With 18,000 union members in the area and an average bonus of $4,700, according to Boeing, roughly $84.6 million is headed for Machinists' households.
David Bowermaster: 206-464-2724 or dbowermaster@seattletimes.com.