When big corporations hand out layoff notices, they say it’s nothing personal. We all know that workers are just cogs in the machine, and sometimes the machine needs fewer cogs.
But when every cog in the state chips in to make the machine happy, we start to take the layoff notices more personally.
Boeing should be getting that message from Rep. June Robinson’s bill that would roll back the tax breaks enjoyed by aerospace companies if they reduce their workforce in the state.
In our latest non-scientific poll, we gauged your support for Robinson’s bill. A resounding 80 percent said the tax breaks should go away if the jobs do.
It’s only logical. Critics thought the Legislature was giving away too much of the store when it made a sweetheart deal to land the 777X in 2013. Many have had buyer’s remorse as they’ve watched jobs leave the state ever since.
Boeing didn’t do anything to help its public perception when it handed out 319 layoff notices recently, then disclosed its CEO made $29 million last year.
But the company seems offended by the backlash. At a hearing on Robinson’s bill, a Boeing executive said changing the tax breaks would undermine the company’s trust in the state. As far as Boeing is concerned, those tax breaks were a token of our gratitude, and Boeing did call “no backsies” immediately after the deal was struck.
Even those of us who don’t work in the aerospace industry take pride that it’s here. But, pass or fail, the bill makes the point that the state deserves a square deal.
Just like those layoff notices, it’s a numbers game. Nothing personal.
— Doug Parry, Herald Web editor: dparry@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @parryracer
Next, we want to know if Mukilteo’s new parking fees will keep you from visiting Lighthouse Park.
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