Unions: Press Boeing on enigineering jobs
EVERETT — When Washington lawmakers rushed to extend a monster tax break to Boeing Co. for the 777X, a few argued in vain for assurances the aerospace giant wouldn’t ax engineering jobs in the process.
Democratic lawmakers wanted provisions to stem the flow of billions of dollars in savings to the company if it didn’t sustain its workforce at generally the same levels through the life of the tax break.
But their concerns were shelved by House and Senate leaders and by Gov. Jay Inslee, who didn’t want to risk losing thousands of jobs associated with assembling the new jetliner to another state.
Now leaders of unions for the Machinists, who will get many of those jobs, and the engineers, whose ranks are getting thinned, are going to press lawmakers to take another shot at it in 2015.
“We as a state did not agree to $8.7 billion worth of tax breaks for these companies so that they could create minimum-wage manufacturing jobs, and move good-paying engineering jobs out of state,” said District 751 Legislative Director Larry Brown.
Ray Goforth, president of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, better known as SPEEA, described what transpired in November as “legislative malpractice.”
“The Legislature can stop this immediately,” he said.
Right now, it is unlikely there is enough political will among lawmakers or in the governor’s office to act.
-snip-
Others broached the idea of tying the tax incentives to creation of a specific number of jobs, along the lines of what South Carolina did in the package it put forth to win the second 787 assembly line. Under such a scenario, Boeing would have to achieve certain levels of employment to earn the full $8.7 billion in savings.
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20140504/BIZ/140509578
