Boeing is furloughing tens of thousands of workers amid a major machinist strike. Last week, 96% of the 33,000 Boeing machinists voted to reject a new contract and instead strike. Though negotiations have continued,

Boeing will furlough tens of thousands of its executives, managers and others as more than 30,000 machinists intend to go on strike Friday in Seattle and Oregon.

Boeing will temporarily furlough tens of thousands of US-based employees due to a machinist strike halting production of key aircraft models. The company faces financial strain with $60 billion of debt and a 40% stock drop this year.

“The response from people is it’s not good enough,” Jon Holden, president of the International Association of Machinists District 751, said in an interview with the Seattle Times. “Right now, I think it will be voted down, and our members will vote to strike.”

Boeing has a tentative agreement with its largest union on a new contract for factory workers that could avoid a threatened strike.

As Boeing's machinists continue to strike, furloughs and pay reductions are in store for the rest of the company.

Boeing said furloughs began on Friday for thousands of employees in Washington State and Oregon, after more than 32,000 workers went on strike last week, halting production of the U.S. planemaker's best-selling 737 MAX and other jets.

Boeing's CEO says it will start furloughing "a large number" of employees to conserve cash during the strike by union machinists that began last week​.