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Good morning, Netizens…
Let us approach the issue of Boeing opening its newest plant in South Carolina with delicacy, shall we? That isn’t to say that cartoonist David Horsey has done so with today’s cartoon, not hardly at all.
A poet once observed that a little competition is good for everyone, and perhaps this could be made to apply to Boeing in Seattle. I believe the Unions in Seattle have become complacent and so set in their ways over the years, which the unions have profited handsomely, that they strike back against anyone wishing to take a little piece of their pie.
On the other hand, in these somewhat desperate times, it doesn’t make sense to be exporting jobs from Washington State to South Carolina, does it? Of course, if you live in South Carolina, there probably people out dancing in the streets upon hearing that so many new jobs are arriving soon.
Of course, this all could be David Horsey playing to the choir, couldn’t it?
I guess it all depends upon your position.
Dave
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Lewis on November 02 at 9:22 a.m.
I do not believe just because you are a union person you are any more educated them a non union worker. being in a union just gives you a higher wage and benefits for the same job the non union worker gets.
honestly i think unions are a thing of the past. they are going to learn there are many people who need work that will take the job regardless if it is union or not.
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JeanieS on November 02 at 11:03 a.m.
Agree, Lewis.
But the Horsey cartoon reminded me of something that happened in my building one day. The elevator was stopped on my floor and two men were working on it, one up inside the casing above the elevator, the other scrunched on the floor working on *something* - when the man inside tossed out a large roll of duct tape, announcing, “there, that fixed it.”
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Rifleman__Dodd on November 02 at 1:07 p.m.
W/o duct tape and bungie cords the universe would fly apart.
Regarding Boeing's stupid move. They just pissed off nearly everyone in Washington with tieir unsmooth move.
Boeing used to be a GREAT company to work for. Their outside MBA managers just focused on todays profit line, not tomorrows nor whom it affected.
I also fault our politicians like Murray/Cantwell/McMorris who bowed to them like chorewoman scrubbing the floor. Now they know the REAL Boeing, the one that took $3 Billon dollars to support the 777. Thats $500 for every citizen in Washington.. not just Everett/Seattle/Kent/Renton.
We should tax the Boeing properties to the total amount of what it cost in jobs.
This was just a silly spiteful management/executive move that will come back to haunt them of course they will just look the other way, whistle and collect their bonuses while others join the unemployment line.
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spokelooneh on November 02 at 5:33 p.m.
Locke got punked by Boeing way back when.
Boeing, like any good defense contractor in the Military/Industrial/Congressional (Ike's original wording) knows you need to spread the work around the various states so you have support from multiple politicians. Even if this particular plant is making commercial airliners.
With overtime, union machinists were averaging $75k a year, not exactly a princely sum in high cost Seattle area. Snohomish and Seattle still have average home prices well over $300K. N. Charleston average home prices peaked at $131k and are now less than $125k.
If Boeing gets the tanker deal, and they probably will, they've said those will be built in Everett. That will give Boeing some breathing room to get the SC plant ramped up and get the badly hemorrhaging 787 program back on track.
Of course the gamble to outsource quite a bit of production to far flung areas around the world may backfire on them. It's unproven as of yet.
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Zelda Krup on November 02 at 11:10 p.m.
You took the words right out of my mouth, Spokelooneh. A smart company spreads itself around so the politicians can claim tight ties with major employers in their home districts and states. Bringing in lots of good jobs makes re-election a sure thing.
Another factor in Boeing's decsion to expand in SC is the awful traffic on I5 and clogged roads coming to and from the Everett facility. Puget Sound traffic. Maybe the state and Feds offered some sweet deals on ways to relieve traffic congestion, but most often the expanding businesses are expected to foot most of the highway improvements and mass transit additions.
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Rifleman__Dodd on November 03 at 12:44 a.m.
Actually Zelda the 787 was not spread around the U.S. but the world. In order to entice airlines/countries to order the 787, many set aside agreements were made, plus paying a machinist in china $2 an hour offset the cost of shipping. The problem is when so many high tech parts are finally brought together, they did not match and you just cant stroll across the pond and have them re-manufactured.
The problem with dispersing your technology overseas is that now the Chinese are now making and flying domestic airliners. Just wait till those show up at WaMart. Boeing has also had a bad habit of illegally exporting classified technology.
Your also way off base with the transportation problems. Gary Locke spent $3 Billion to improve all those transportation problems. If there are transportation problems with all those far flung other state you mention, then they haven;t been solved and it would still be wiser to make everything locally.
Boeings move of their HQ to Chicago “to be closer to our clients” was must more smoke and mirrors since most of their airplane clients are in Asia as Airbus has most of Europe sewed up.
The 767/777 Tanker may or may not be built in Everett.. we shall see. Renton has almost spent its life on the 737/derivitives. The plan is once the airframes are built to ship them to St. Louis for system install/test. So that does no good for Washington.
The way to tell if a Boeing Manager/Executive is lying..their lips are moving. Believe it. Murray/Cantwell/McMorris didnt and see what happened?
OBTW Gregoire was out to lunch and still hasn't come back for Dessert. Remember the big joke about the Aerospace commission Gregoire put together? Take a look at the list of puppets, not a one has Clue #1 on anything to do with Aerospace or Engineering. I bet they are eating some good ol' baked crow right about now served up by Gregoire.
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