Boeing plant in Manitoba to reduce work week

Over 300 employees at Winnipeg's Boeing Canada manufacturing plant agreed to a 4-day work week to stave off layoffs. Boeing communications specialist Terry Trupp is one of the 340 workers at the Winnipeg plant who voted for the reduced work week. She said voting to save jobs was an easy decision. "I guess it was better than the alternative, which was layoffs," said Trupp. A portion of the employees' wages for the lost working day will be covered by the federal government's Employment Insurance program. Trupp said there will be cutbacks for her family but it really wasn't a tough decision. "I guess I felt relieved, you know, as far as no layoffs immediately. So we can all work together again as a team & get through this time." Boeing's Dir. HR Carl Brosman said the vote needed 65% support from the workforce to pass. He was astonished at the response. "I've been very impressed -- a 90.4% approval to do this is quite outstanding. It's better than any expectations I ever had." Brosman says the deal will help keep about 60 highly skilled people on the job -- engineers, finance specialists, IT procurement specialists, HR specialists, and back office personnel. While the reduced work week program's still to be approved by Ottawa, Boeing says the program will last 26 weeks. Company officials say what happens after that will depend on the health of the economy.