Boeing faces allegations of retaliating against employees for safety complaints in San Antonio
Three former employees of San Antonio’s Boeing Global Services plant at Port San Antonio allege they were terminated for raising safety concerns surrounding their work. Three former employees of Boeing Global Services in San Antonio, Texas, allege they were fired for raising safety concerns about their work. The National Labor Relations Board has received complaints alleging that the three workers were terminated after presenting their opinions to the facility's management. The complaints were lodged against the plant's handling of military aircraft. The U.S. Department of Defense has declined to comment on the allegations. Boeing denies the retaliation allegations. The San Antonio site, which opened in 1998, houses military aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities and is also home to a Rapid Response Center for quick repairs and modifications to commercial aircraft.
Published : 4 weeks ago by James McCandless in Travel
SAN ANTONIO – Three former employees of San Antonio’s Boeing Global Services plant at Port San Antonio allege they were terminated for raising safety concerns surrounding their work.
Complaints filed with the National Labor Relations Board in early March allege the three workers were let go after a group of workers presented their opinions on the matter to the facility’s management, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. A source close to the case told the Business Journal the complainants raised issues with the plant’s handling of military aircraft.
The U.S. Department of Defense declined to comment for this story.
“I engaged in protected, concerted activity with coworkers in an effort to bring a group complaint to the attention of management about safety concerns with the planes being manufactured at our facility; as a group we were critical of management’s handling of the safety concerns as we believed management’s behavior was reactionary, the driving force and cause of the safety concerns,” the complainant wrote. “I was terminated ... following submission of the complaint.”
Opened in 1998, the San Antonio 1.6 million-square-foot site operates in part as one of Boeing Global Services’ (NYSE: BA) military aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities. Last year, the company won a contract to continue its work maintaining F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet fighter jets. The contract extension outlined that the San Antonio facility would perform 95% of the work.
It’s also home to a “Rapid Response Center,” a 59,000-square-foot center for making quick repairs and modifications to commercial aircraft.
Boeing’s planes have generated headlines over the last few months as manufacturing issues continue to present themselves in commercial flights, culminating in CEO Dave Calhoun and other executives announcing their departures this week. In a statement to the Business Journal, a Boeing spokesperson said the company “vigorously” denies the retaliation allegations.
Read the fully story in the San Antonio Business Journal.
Editor’s note: This story was published through a partnership between KSAT and the San Antonio Business Journal.
Topics: Aviation, Airlines