Days after announcing its intention to build its next major jetliner in the Seattle area, aerospace giant Boeing Co. said the decision is not yet final.
At issue is a tentative labor agreement with International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union in Washington. A vote is scheduled for Wednesday, but late Thursday the Seattle Times reported that a union leader publicly tore up a copy of the contract and announced his intention to have it withdrawn.
There’s also hesitancy among Washington state lawmakers to approve a package of bills that includes more than $8 billion in tax savings for Boeing to build the next-generation version of the 777 wide-body jet in Puget Sound.
“We chose to engage in Puget Sound first, but without full acceptance by the union and Legislature, we will be left with no choice but to open up the process competitively and pursue other options for locating 777X work,” the company said in a statement. “If this is not ratified per the scheduled union vote on November 13th, we will begin taking the next steps. “
Boeing said all of the options are “still on the table.”
When will our elected representatives learn that they must attach stipulations when awarding corporations tax incentives to build facilities and require them to document new employee ownership creation using Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) financing? And when will labor unions transform to a producers’ ownership union movement and embrace and fight for employee ownership?
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-boeing-777x-20131107,0,3086858.story#axzz2kBIVTz18
