Boeing's long bye-bye begins?

July 8, 3:32 PMSnohomish County Progressive ExaminerChad Shue

Previous Next

6 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Snohomish County Progressive Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Yesterday's announcement that the Boeing Company has purchased South Carolina based Vought Aircraft sent business and political leaders from around Snohomish County and the rest of the state into a near panic as they attempt to pre-empt a presumed departure of the aerospace giant from the Evergreen State. Their fears have been heightened recently by speculation that the acquisition of Vought; already a link in Boeing's global supply chain for the beleaguered 787 "Dreamliner", might be setting the groundwork for establishing a 2nd line for that aircraft which has yet to lift off from a runway.

(Photo - Boeing Company)
 

Not long after the purchase agreement was announced, Jerry Cornfield; writing at the Petri Dish, posted a few excerpts of the reactions of some of those business and political leaders.

Steve Mullin, president of the Washington Roundtable:

“...Boeing is a global company and they will locate where it makes the best business sense. Their customers are going to have a lot to say about it and some of those customers have expressed concern about Boeing’s labor relations here in the Seattle area...”

John Stanton, chairman of the Washington Roundtable:

"... Airlines simply can’t make billion-dollar decisions on new aircraft and then face the prospect of delivery delays because of labor disputes. If the workers and the company can’t figure out how to trust each other and get along, then the company has little choice but to locate operations in communities that will be more welcoming..."

Don Brunell, president, Association of Washington Business:
 
“This is our wake-up call. In this economic climate, businesses must locate where they have the best chance for success. If staying in Washington makes Boeing less competitive, it has to look at other options. Boeing must deliver value to their customers by delivering products cost-effectively and on time. That means Boeing cannot have frequent strikes and labor discord.”

Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, who serves on the Washington Council on Aerospace:

"...“A recent report on Washington’s competitiveness showed that two issues were very important to the aerospace industry – labor-management relations, and cost-related measures such as unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, taxes and other business costs..."

Reacting to the obvious anti-labor rhetoric running through the business and political community, Washington State Labor Council President, Rick Bender released a statement describing labor's position on the purchase. I have reproduced an excerpt of that statement here:

"Today's announcement of Boeing's purchase of the Vought Aircraft plant in South Carolina is indeed a wake-up call -- one that business and labor need to work together to keep Washington an excellent place to do business and build on our successes in that area. Unfortunately, the content and tone of what some business lobbying groups and politicians are saying today is counterproductive to that effort.

Organized labor in Washington state rejects the notion that this news is a signal that Washington is a bad place to do business. Boeing's 787 business strategy to outsource production around the world -- leaving only the final assembly to be done here in the Puget Sound area -- has been the clear culprit in the delay of the 787's roll out. The Vought purchase is a welcome sign that Boeing intends to regain some control of its supply chain and that the 787 will move successfully forward, not a reason to panic about whether the company has decided to move out of our state.

Organized labor also rejects the suggestion that recent labor disputes at Boeing are the unions' fault, or that government should somehow intervene to prevent these disputes. Again, at the heart of these disputes has been Boeing's business strategy to outsource what were once good-paying Boeing jobs to non-union contractors in Washington state and around the world. In recent years, Boeing employees have been seeking contract language that achieves the same thing that all of us hope to achieve: preserving good Boeing jobs here in the Puget Sound..."

WSLC President, Rick Bender

The back and forth between Aerospace (Boeing), Government, and Labor has been going on for.... well since there has been Aerospace in the state. This year, however, has been especially hard on Labor as the legislature shot down virtually every Labor friendly bill placed before them and actually rolled back some recent gains in the area of unemployment benefits. Perhaps the most extreme case was the folly over an errant email that gave the Governor and legislative leaders a clear path to remove a long sought after "worker privacy" bill from any consideration at all; even after claims of impropriety were quashed by both the PDC and the Washington State Patrol.

For their part, the folks at Boeing are making an effort to push back against the speculation that they are planning to pull out of Washington State. In a memo sent to  members of the business community by Shaunta Hyde, Government Relations Manager for the aerospace giant, she shares what she believes to be the highlights of the press release announcing the Vought acquisition:

1. Today's announcement is about strengthing our supply chain line and
accelerating our productivity to make sure we can meet our commitments.

2. Todays' announcement has no tie to a decision on a second line for
the 787.  As a matter of fact, this decision has not yet been made.

3. We don't anticipate that the decision to purchase Vought Charleston
will result in existing work moving from Washington to South Carolina.

4. It is likely that support from Puget Sound will continue to be
provided to the South Carolina operation for approximately 18 months.
Boeing has sent approximately 60 employees from Puget Sound on temporary
assignment to South Carolina to support various improvement initiatives
at the site.

5. We remain committed to the business model and the global strategy for
the 787.

In the meantime, amidst all the hand wringing and finger pointing, the 787 take-off watch party continues.

Peace,
Chad Shue