Boeing’s largest plant in ‘panic mode’ amid safety crisis, say workers and union officials | Boeing

Boeing’s largest factory is in “panic mode”, according to workers and union officials, with managers accused of hounding staff to keep quiet over quality concerns.

The US plane maker has been grappling with a safety crisis sparked by a cabin panel blowout during a flight in January, and intense scrutiny of its production line as regulators launched a string of investigations.

Its site at Everett, Washington – hailed as the world’s biggest manufacturing building – is at the heart of Boeing’s operation, responsible for building planes like the 747 and 767, and fixing the 787 Dreamliner.

One mechanic at the complex, who has worked for Boeing for more than three decades, has claimed it is “full of” faulty 787 jets that need fixing.

Many of these jets are flown from Boeing’s site in South Carolina, where the company shifted final assembly of the 787 in 2021 in what was characterized as a cost-cutting measure.

“There is no way in God’s green earth I would want to be a pilot in South Carolina flying those from South Carolina to here,” the mechanic, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, told the Guardian. “Because when they get in here, we’re stripping them apart.”

Managers at Everett “will hound mechanics” to keep quiet about quality-assurance concerns and potential repairs, the mechanic alleged, emphasizing speed and efficiency over safety. He added: “Boeing has to look in the mirror and say: ‘We’re wrong.’”

Boeing did not comment on claims that staff have been pressured not to raise concerns about quality. Work at Everett on 787 jets is taking place as part of an established verification program, it said.

The company met this week with US regulators to discuss how it plans to address quality-control issues. Executives have recently described how workers have been emboldened to speak up since January, with submissions to an internal portal for safety and quality concerns up 500%.

Earlier this year, a panel of experts, which was appointed by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, described a “disconnect” between Boeing’s leadership and workforce on safety, and made 53 recommendations to help resolve its concerns.

After January’s blowout,

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Employees call Scarborough Chapters closure union busting, Indigo says it’s a business decision

Employees of a Chapters bookstore in Scarborough are accusing Indigo of union busting after the company told employees it’d be closing the store in January, which was one of three unionized locations in Toronto. 

Victoria Popov, a part-time employee and union steward at the store, says about 30-40 people will lose their jobs due to the closure on Jan. 27. The store has been open at Kennedy Commons mall for 24 years. In a statement, Indigo told CBC Toronto the store was closed after a standard business review that factored in profitability and says the company is working to support employees.

But Popov says staff feel unsupported by the Canada-wide chain. She says employees have been transferred to other locations after previous store closures, but a transfer was denied for everyone at the Scarborough store.

“We think we’re being made an example of for being unionized and for demanding better wages,” she said. “I think they want to show other stores: ‘This is what will happen to you if you dare step out of line.'”

Victoria Popov, a part-time employee and union steward at the store, says about 30-40 people will lose their jobs due to the closure on Jan. 27. (Jason Trout/CBC)

Indigo’s operations have been in the headlines over the past year, last fall there was a shakeup in the executive ranks that saw president Peter Ruis promoted to CEO, while founder Heather Reisman was bumped up to executive chair. Then the company was hit by a cyberattack in February and Reisman retired completely in the aftermath. In September, Ruis resigned after less than a year as CEO and Reisman returned as chief executive.

Prior to the cyberattack, the store said it was on track for a profitable 2022-2023 — but it ended up losing $50 million on the fiscal year as a result.

Evidence needed to prove union busting: lawyer

Michael Lynk, professor emeritus of law at the University of Western Ontario, says he’d need to see more evidence to definitively call the store’s closure an act of union busting. He says employers can close a unionized store if it is a pure economic decision.

He says the union could file a complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board to accuse Indigo of committing an unfair labour practice. 

“When a union accuses an employer of committing an unfair labour practice, the onus actually reverses, the onus is

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