Boeing Threatens to Move Jobs from Seattle

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) warned Friday that if assembly workers and local politicians do not ratify plans to build its new 777X in Seattle, the company will consider alternative sites. The announcement came just hours after senior members of the International Association of Machinists union voiced opposition to a proposed labor contract, which is scheduled to come up for a membership vote next week.

Boeing and the union had reached a preliminary deal for the fuselage and wings of the 777X long-haul jet to be built in the Seattle area, its traditional manufacturing base. But the deal also called for reduced health care benefits and replaced the traditional pension with a defined contribution savings plan. Hundreds of assembly workers reportedly protested at Boeing’s Everett plant, where most the company’s wide-body jets are currently built, calling for the contract to be rejected.

“I know this is a piece of crap,” a machinists union leader said Thursday. “I will go to see if this can be withdrawn and not even put to a vote.” He reportedly tore up the proposed contract.

Also on Thursday, state lawmakers gathered in Olympia to consider a package of tax and other incentives to keep key manufacturing work on Boeing’s new plane in the state. In 2003, a coalition of lawmakers and the governor provided a broad package of tax breaks and other benefits to Boeing to keep 787 manufacturing in Washington. Yet, in the following years some production was shifted to Japan and a new production line was established in South Carolina.

“Assembly of that airplane will be the lynchpin of economic growth for the state of Washington for decades to come,” Governor Jay Inslee said Thursday. That may be up to Boeing and the union.

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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