Boeing lays off over 400 members of professional aerospace union

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Boeing has laid off more than 400 members of its professional aerospace labor union, the union said Friday.

As of Thursday evening, Boeing had sent layoff notices to 438 union members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace. The union's local chapter has 17,000 Boeing employees who are largely based in Washington state, with some in states of Oregon, California and Utah.

The job cuts are part of a company-wide 10 percent reduction in labor, which involves about 17,000 jobs across Boeing's commercial, defense and global services division.

The company announced the job cuts in October and began notifying those workers who will be impacted on Wednesday, the union said.