Inslee signs Boeing bills; Machinists plan protest today

Gov. Jay Inslee today signed into law a lengthy extension of a multibillion-dollar tax break to help convince the Boeing Co. to place final assembly and wing work of the future 777X jetliner in the state.

Inslee also signed a bill that will immediately pump millions of dollars into educating and training new workers for the aerospace industry.

The bill-signing took place at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Both bills were passed during a special session of the Legislature on Saturday.

That tax-break bill is worth an estimated $8.7 billion over 16 years. It extends existing tax breaks, due to expire in 2024, into 2040. Boeing has asked for the extension to cover the anticipated manufacturing period for the future jetliner. It is contingent on the aerospace firm siting the program in Washington by June 30, 2017.

The new law also makes clear that the preferential business-and-occupation tax rate will disappear if final assembly, wing assembly or wing fabrication of the 777X and future versions are moved outside Washington.

The second bill pumps $17 million into education and training of future aerospace workers. It includes $8 million for 1,000 new enrollment slots in community and technical colleges and $1.5 million for enlarging the Washington Aerospace Training and Research Center at Paine Field in Everett.

Boeing’s commitment to build the 777X in Washington is also contingent on the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ratifying an eight-year contract extension on Wednesday.

That proposed extension is laced with concessions on pension and health-care benefits that have enraged many of 22,000 members of District 751 who will be casting ballots Wednesday.

Some of those opponents plan to demonstrate their displeasure at a rally at 3:30 p.m. today at the union hall in Everett, near Boeing’s big factory at Paine Field.

“This contract offer from the company is one of the most destructive and divisive proposals that we, as union members, have ever faced,” reads a statement posted by opponents. “If accepted we would give up wages, benefits, and pensions that were established through hard fought contract negotiations and strikes by generations of Fighting Machinists that came before us.”

At today’s bill signing, Ray Conner, chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, acknowledged the conflict in the ranks of the IAM.

“I know that change is not easy, but by working together we have the opportunity to put something in place, to cement for decades to come good high-paying jobs for many, many years,” he said.

He said the company is “under siege” from international competition and “this is our opportunity to win and to win big.”

Update: Boeing has launched a website that lays out its proposal on its own terms, with a theme: “Secure your future with market-leading pay, retirement and health care.”

Among the things the Boeing website seeks to clarify is that the company’s promises — in the present contract to build the 737 Max in Renton and in the extension to build the 777X in Washington — are indeed ongoing promises. Some union members claim that the new language is anything but binding.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

Black Press Media operates Sound Publishing, the largest community news organization in Washington State with dailies and community news outlets in Alaska.
Black Press Media concludes transition of ownership

Black Press Media, which operates Sound Publishing, completed its sale Monday (March 25), following the formerly announced corporate restructuring.

Maygen Hetherington, executive director of the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, laughs during an interview in her office on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Snohomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Maygen Hetherington: tireless advocate for the city of Snohomish

Historic Downtown Snohomish Association receives the Opportunity Lives Here award from Economic Alliance.

FILE - Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs poses in front of photos of the 15 people who previously held the office on Nov. 22, 2021, after he was sworn in at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Hobbs faces several challengers as he runs for election to the office he was appointed to last fall. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs: ‘I wanted to serve my country’

Hobbs, a former Lake Stevens senator, is the recipient of the Henry M. Jackson Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Mark Duffy poses for a photo in his office at the Mountain Pacific Bank headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Mark Duffy: Building a hometown bank; giving kids an opportunity

Mountain Pacific Bank’s founder is the recipient of the Fluke Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Barb Tolbert poses for a photo at Silver Scoop Ice Cream on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Barb Tolbert: Former mayor piloted Arlington out of economic brink

Tolbert won the Elson S. Floyd Award, honoring a leader who has “created lasting opportunities” for the underserved.

Photo provided by 
Economic Alliance
Economic Alliance presented one of the Washington Rising Stem Awards to Katie Larios, a senior at Mountlake Terrace High School.
Mountlake Terrace High School senior wins state STEM award

Katie Larios was honored at an Economic Alliance gathering: “A champion for other young women of color in STEM.”

The Westwood Rainier is one of the seven ships in the Westwood line. The ships serve ports in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia. (Photo provided by Swire Shipping)
Westwood Shipping Lines, an Everett mainstay, has new name

The four green-hulled Westwood vessels will keep their names, but the ships will display the Swire Shipping flag.

A Keyport ship docked at Lake Union in Seattle in June 2018. The ship spends most of the year in Alaska harvesting Golden King crab in the Bering Sea. During the summer it ties up for maintenance and repairs at Lake Union. (Keyport LLC)
In crabbers’ turbulent moment, Edmonds seafood processor ‘saved our season’

When a processing plant in Alaska closed, Edmonds-based business Keyport stepped up to solve a “no-win situation.”

Angela Harris, Executive Director of the Port of Edmonds, stands at the port’s marina on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Edmonds, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Leadership, love for the Port of Edmonds got exec the job

Shoring up an aging seawall is the first order of business for Angela Harris, the first woman to lead the Edmonds port.

The Cascade Warbirds fly over Naval Station Everett. (Sue Misao / The Herald file)
Bothell High School senior awarded $2,500 to keep on flying

Cascade Warbirds scholarship helps students 16-21 continue flight training and earn a private pilot’s certificate.

Rachel Gardner, the owner of Musicology Co., a new music boutique record store on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. Musicology Co. will open in February, selling used and new vinyl, CDs and other music-related merchandise. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Edmonds record shop intends to be a ‘destination for every musician’

Rachel Gardner opened Musicology Co. this month, filling a record store gap in Edmonds.

MyMyToyStore.com owner Tom Harrison at his brick and mortar storefront on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burst pipe permanently closes downtown Everett toy store

After a pipe flooded the store, MyMyToystore in downtown Everett closed. Owner Tom Harrison is already on to his next venture.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.