Boeing Uses Labor Agreement as Cover to Trim Outsourcing

So, we now see that Boeing will move more engineering and manufacturing in house after the debacle with its long-delayed 787:

Boeing has expected too much from major outsourcing partners and will take much detailed design work and some major production back in-house to avoid in future the troubles that have plagued its long-delayed 787 programme.

I think that some of the upper management will now say that they had to, because of the labor deal they cut with the IAM, as opposed to admitting that farming that much out to future competitors so as to reduce the initial investment, did not work, and transferred core competencies to the "partners".

I think that the employment guarantees in the contract were a relief to management, because they had to bring this stuff back in, but admitting failure in an honest way would have meant some high level firings.

Also, toward the bottom, it appears that the SPEEA is feeling its oats with Boeing too, though I don't expect a strike from them, they are engineers, who tend to be Randroid by nature.

Then again, I did not predict the last time, when they did go on strike, so YMMV.