Blow the whistle or we'll sack you

AEROSPACE giant Boeing is to force its 150,000 workers to sign up to a whistleblowers' charter. Anyone who refuses will be sacked.

All employees, including the company's 150 full-time staff in the UK, will be expected to snoop on their colleagues as part of a crackdown on unethical behaviour.

Chief executive Harry Stonecipher, 67, who was drafted in to the company after former boss Phil Condit resigned in the wake of a series of ethical scandals, said: 'We have a bunch of guys at the end of the phone who will be able to discuss the code. But I guess if the person does not sign, there will be a parting of the ways.'

The controversial section of the code states: 'Employees will promptly report any illegal or unethical conduct to management or other appropriate authorities. Every employee has the responsibility to ask questions, seek guidance and report suspected violations of this code of conduct. Retaliation against employees who come forward to raise genuine concerns will not be tolerated.'

Stonecipher told the Financial Mail on Sunday: 'There is a fine tradition of whistleblowing in the States. We will not tolerate anyone trying to stop them telling us anything.'

In his first trip to the UK since taking control, Stonecipher complained that there was a perception in some quarters that dealing with Boeing was like 'dealing with a bunch of crooks'.

But he added that Boeing's internal investigations into misconduct had revealed no further breaches.

The company broke its own rules on the hiring of officials from the Pentagon and was accused of industrial espionage against rival Lockheed Martin.

A second independent inquiry into the problems, which led to the firing of Boeing's finance director, is to report soon. Stonecipher said he believed it would find no further irregularities.

Stonecipher's visit to London last week spelt further bad news for BAE Systems, which has been the subject of Government criticism for overspends on defence projects.

He said he had no interest in acquiring BAE Systems because Boeing had no wish to be in the shipbuilding and missile businesses that make up a large part of BAE's revenues. 'We like them as a company, but it's just not an attractive target for us,' he said.

The rejection by the US group of a possible BAE deal further narrows the field for the leading British defence contractor, which has long made a merger with an American counterpart a priority.