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The union representing 4,660 Boeing Co. employees in Wichita, Kan., plans to picket the company at various sites around the country, including the Renton headquarters of Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace said its members also will picket Boeing's Chicago headquarters, and the Toronto, Ontario, headquarters of Onex Corp., which is in the process of buying the Wichita facility. The union said more than 1,100 employees have been laid off by Boeing and have been told they will not have jobs with Onex when the sale closes on June 16. Meanwhile, the International Brotherhood...

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian buyout firm Onex Corp. (Toronto:OCXSV.TO - news) said on Thursday it still plans to purchase several Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA - news) commercial airplane manufacturing plants in the United States after a key labor union at the plants rejected its contract offer. Onex announced in February it would buy Boeing facilities in Wichita, Kansas, and Tulsa and McAlester, Oklahoma, estimating the overall value of the transaction at about C$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion). But members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted earlier this week to reject a contract offer from Onex, fueling speculation the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Canadian buyout firm Onex Corp on Tuesday said a key labor union rejected its contract offer in a setback to its C$1.5 billion purchase of several Boeing Co commercial airplane manufacturing facilities. "We are obviously disappointed at the outcome of today's vote," Onex managing director Nigel Wright said in a statement. "We are reviewing our options and want to give them careful consideration before making a determination about our next steps." Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at Boeing's plant in Wichita, Kansas rejected the proposal. Officials at Boeing and the union...

Boeing Co. on Tuesday agreed to sell off a key part of its commercial jet-building operations and a rocket engine unit in two separate deals worth about $2 billion. The deals come as Boeing tries to sell off manufacturing capacity and cut costs amid fierce competition from European rival Airbus, the world's top aircraft maker, in the commercial airline market. Boeing sold its commercial plane manufacturing operations in Kansas and Oklahoma to Canadian leveraged buyout firm Onex Corp. for $1.2 billion including $900 million in cash and the transfer of certain liabilities, such as employee pension costs. The sale to...