Conte said Boeing might take other actions beyond any announced today if the company determines they're needed. Johnson sent an e-mail outlining Boeing's plan Wednesday evening to IAM business representatives and other union leaders. In Auburn, light subassemblies work will be discontinued and process assembly, which involves curing or strengthening materials and parts, will be consolidated elsewhere. Workers affected range widely in skills. The Harbour Pointe facility, for instance, has a relatively high concentration of workers with medical disabilities, such as carpal-tunnel problems.
Operations there involve light subassembly work done on benches.
The Blue Streak team, on the other hand, includes highly skilled machinists capable of turning out parts without tooling. In all, about 1,000 workers could eventually report to work at a different Boeing plant. Boeing engineers often move from one plant to another as they switch from supporting one airplane model to another. But relocation is less common among the hourly workers, said Peter Jacobs, an aerospace analyst with Ragen MacKenzie. Jacobs said he does not rule out more Puget Sound-area consolidations.