Two weeks after 33,000 Boeing machinists went on strike, the company is bracing for financial impact. The airplane maker has implemented cost-saving measures including a hiring freeze, temporary

Financial realities are beginning to bite some of the lower-paid Boeing workers who are less prepared for going a long time without a paycheck.

For a company that has lost $33 billion since 2019, a strike that virtually halts production of its major product is the last thing it needs. But that’s the reality for embattled aircraft maker Boeing.

Boeing presented what it called its “best and final” offer to the 33,000 machinists who have been on strike for nearly two weeks. The union representing the workers rebuffed the proposal, displeased with its details and how Boeing presented it.

Standing on the picket line outside Boeing’s Everett plant on Friday, Phil Westburg said not much has improved for aircraft machinists in the Puget Sound region since 2008, the last time he and other members of his union walked off the job.

Labor unrest at Boeing could claim another casualty soon in the relatively fragile aerospace supply chain. Wednesday evening, The Financial Times reported that Boeing’s 737 MAX fuselage supplier Spirit AeroSystems Holdings would begin to furlough workers in the coming weeks if the Machinist strike against Boeing lingered.