Bombardier freezes 38,000 workers' wages

[NEW YORK] Bombardier, whose delayed CSeries jet is weighing on profits, is freezing salaries for about 38,000 non-union workers in its aerospace and transportation units worldwide as well as at its head office.

Employees who are covered under certain local contracts, about half of Bombardier's 76,400 workers, won't be affected. The company has already been tightening its belt, announcing in January that it was eliminating 1,700 jobs at its aerospace division, mostly in and around its headquarters in Montreal.

It's also reducing training budgets and restricting business travel, encouraging employees to use videoconferencing instead, according to Isabelle Rondeau, a Bombardier spokeswoman, confirming the contents of an article that appeared in Canada's La Presse newspaper.