Boeing to lay off 153 workers in Puget Sound region

Boeing plans to lay off 153 workers in metro Puget Sound by June 19, according to a federally required notice.

Most of them — 125 — are members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), according to the union.

Of those SPEEA members, 118 are in Washington: 67 in Tukwila, 28 in Renton, 20 in Everett, two in Kent and one in Bellevue. Five jobs are being cut in California and two in Utah, according to the union.

Ninety-nine of the SPEEA jobs are with Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The rest are split between the company’s defense side and its Engineering Operations and Technology division.

Boeing spokesman Peter Pedraza declined to comment on the breakdown.

“These notifications are related to previously announced staffing reductions,” he said.

In 2014, Boeing announced it was moving several thousand engineering jobs out of state.

The Legislature has considered bills tying state aerospace tax incentives to employment levels at receiving companies, but it is unlikely they will be voted on. The state extended the incentives in late 2013 as part of an effort to convince Boeing to assemble the new 777X jetliner and produce its carbon-fiber-composite wings here.

Extending the incentives are estimated to be worth as much as $8.7 billion to Boeing. The aerospace giant picked Everett for the 777X line and wing fabrication after members of the Machinist union approved a concession-laden contract.

Critics of the extension say that Boeing can cut jobs and still enjoy the tax cuts.

Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.

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