Category Archives: Layoff or Closure

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Layoff or Closure

Boeing and Alaska Airlines AnnounceD Layoffs

Both Boeing and Alaska Airlines announced layoffs due, in large part, to the downturn in air travel as a result of the pandemic.

Boeing Layoffs

We wrote a prior article about the initial rounds of layoffs and incentivized early retirements at Boeing. Now, a new round of layoffs has been announced.

Boeing notified Washington State through its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) system of the upcoming layoffs. Effective October 2, 2020, it is reported that another 940 employees will face permanent layoff.

These additional layoffs coincided with the news that the FAA is finalizing its plan for the return of Boeing’s 737 MAX to service.

The Aerospace Machinists union, IAM 751, states that about 1/3 of their members that received WARN letters were reWARNs, meaning the member was already holding a WARN notice, effectively extending their layoff date to October 2nd from their earlier notice.

Alaska Airlines Layoffs

The Hill reported on the recent WARN notice from Alaska Airlines, excerpted below. Read the full post, here.

Alaska Airlines warned that almost 1,600 Washington state employees could be permanently laid off in the fall. The airline plans to begin letting a portion of its employees go, starting on Oct. 1, the day after the government’s Payroll Support Program terminates.

The expected layoffs in Washington state represent 20 percent of Alaska Airlines’s workforce in the area, including customer service agents, maintenance technicians and flight attendants. 

The Seattle Times also reported on the fact that Boeing and Alaska Airlines announced layoffs. Read the full report about Alaska Airlines, excerpted below, here.

Alaska avoided layoffs among its pilots when it offered incentives including half pay to take voluntary leave. More than 1,000 of Alaska’s 3,000 pilots took the incentives. The flight attendants were offered a voluntary-leave option that included health care but was unpaid.

Prior Posts on Related Topics
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Layoff or Closure

Potato Product Producer Posts Layoffs

Global potato product producer Lamb Weston has posted its intention to layoff over 600 workers in Washington State, effective June 15th. Washington’s Employment Security Department issued a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) on June 8th.

Lamb Weston is one of the world’s largest frozen potato product producer companies. It provides potato products to restaurants and food service businesses, large and small. Think anything potato – mashed potatoes, baby red potatoes, french fries, waffle fries, tater tots, sweet potato fries, even deep-fried pickle spears – and you’re likely to think of a Lamb Weston product.

The WARN notice indicated that the number of workers affected would be 360 in Connell and 300 in Warden, both home to Lamb Weston potato processing plants.

Warden, WA, population 2,692, is a small town in Grant County, WA approximately 20 miles SE of Moses Lake. Connell, with a population of 5,566, is another 30 miles SE of Warden, in Franklin County. The Lamb Weston layoffs represent a job loss of 11% for Warden and 6.5% for Connell, which is also home to the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center.

The Employment Security Department will send staff from the local rapid response team and the WorkSource center to perform outreach to employees of Lamb Weston to ease the transition.

Prior Posts on Related Topics
Layoff or Closure

Seattle Times Closing North Creek Facility

The Seattle Times,  the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper, is closing its North Creek Facility in Bothell, WA. The Seattle Times closing of this facility has led to a reported layoff of 42 employees, as noted in a recent Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing with Washington State.

Expected beginning date of separations is March 2, 2020. Staff from the local rapid response team and WorkSource center will perform outreach to employees of the organization to ease the transition.

Production activities at the North Creek Plant in Bothell included newsprint roll storage and conveyance, printing, packaging, and truck loading. Printing operations previously performed at the site have moved to another Seattle Times-owned facility in Kent, WA.

The Seattle Times North Creek Facility property is listed for sale, with an asking price of $45,000,000. As of this writing, the property is listed as Pending on the Windermere Commercial Real Estate site. It is not yet known the amount of the actual sale.

In a detailed article from April, 2019 by Seattle Times real estate reporter Mike Rosenberg, The Seatte Times explained that proceeds from this sale would be put towards funding news operations, as well as paying down debt at the Bothell, WA facility and funding pension obligations.

Photo credit: Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times

Prior post about Snohomish County layoffs: MCKESSON CLOSING EVERETT SHOP IN JUNE

Layoff or Closure

McKesson Closing Everett Shop in June

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN)

Employment Security received a WARN for an organization in Everett.

Organization: McKesson

Expected beginning date of separations: June 7, 2019

Number of affected workers: 67

Layoff or closure: Closure

The Everett Herald reports that:

“Most of the affected workers are shipping-receiving clerks or warehouse workers. They belong to Teamsters Local No. 38, which negotiated a severance package. Some of the employees had worked there for decades.

“They were told that they could reapply, but they would have to re-apply as new employees,” said Michael Raughter, a union organizer who used to work for McKesson. “When they move down, they’re going to be non-union. Hopefully they’ll be able to re-organize.”

Read the full story…

Image credit: McKesson