Boeing has terminated health care coverage for 33,000 of its workers and their dependents amidst ongoing strikes by machinists that have halted production in the Pacific Northwest. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) announced in a Tuesday press release that affected employees received notification of the cuts via U.S. Postal Service mail. Striking union members are condemning this action as a significant error by Boeing (NYSE: BA).

IAM International President Brian Bryant stated, "Boeing executives cannot make up their minds. One day they say they want to win back the trust of their workforce. The next moment, on the heels of many recent missteps by their labor relations team, Boeing executives are now tripping over dollars to get pennies by cutting a benefit that is essential to the lives of children and families, but is nothing compared to the cost of the larger problems Boeing executives have created for their workforce and for the company itself over the last ten years. Their missteps are costing not just the workers but our nation."

Bryant urged Boeing's new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, to intervene. "It’s time for the new CEO to truly engage at the proposal-based level and to take the reins from his subordinates who are fumbling critical decisions like this one," he added. "There is no reason the health benefits question could not h