Boeing Will Repay Furloughed Workers

In what appears to be a conciliatory gesture to an angry workforce, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said that workers who were furloughed during the recent strike by 33,000 machinists will be repaid by the company.

"Your sacrifice made a difference and helped the company bridge to this moment," Ortberg told staff in an email. "We want to acknowledge your support by returning your lost pay if you went on unpaid furlough."

But he also said that the company will proceed with previously planned job cuts.

Boeing will lay off about 10 percent of its workers.

"We will continue forward with our previously announced actions to reduce our workforce levels to align with our financial reality and a more focused and streamlined set of priorities," Ortberg wrote to staff. "These structural changes are important to our competitiveness and will help us deliver more value to our customers over the long term."

The strike ended last week after both sides agreed to a 38 percent pay increase and a $12,000 bonus. Striking workers are due to return to their jobs on Tuesday.

But the strike was costly for Boeing. It had to halt production of its most popular models, and there has been no word from the company on when that will resume. It has lost nearly $8 billion this year.

"We have hard work ahead to restore our company and deliver on our customer commitments, but we are on the right path and making the right changes," Ortberg wrote.

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