MexicoNow cancels Seattle event after Boeing unions plan protest

Published 4:23 pm Tuesday, November 23, 2010

MexicoNow has canceled an aerospace conference slated to take place next week in Seattle after Boeing’s unions threatened to protest.

MexicoNow, a bimonthly business magazine, had organized the Seattle aerospace conference aimed at attracting Washington companies to Mexico.

“It is sad that such threats take place in a free market where the focus needs to be on long-term competitiveness and lower prices for consumers,” wrote Sergio Ornelas, MexicoNow editor, in a statement Tuesday canceling the event.

Tom Wroblewski, president of the local Boeing Machinists union, said he was pleased about the conference being canceled.

“Clearly, this is the exact wrong time in America to sit back and allow more jobs to be exported,” Wroblewski said in a statement.

The Machinists had planned to stage protests outside not only the conference’s hotel but also outside any Washington business, including Boeing, that participated in the conference.

“We felt it was essential that someone ask the conference participants a very pointed question: Why are you working so hard to undermine this state’s economy, and send these vital aerospace jobs out of the country?” Wroblewski said.