I have never worked for Boeing, but I am appalled by the number of people who want to “boo” Boeing for trying to survive in a very competitive environment brought on by 9-11 and the subsequent recession. Boeing is not a federal or state agency that has unlimited amounts of taxpayer dollars to spread around for unemployment and welfare benefits. If Boeing is not competitive, it will not only shed more jobs, it will just go out of business entirely. I suspect that many of the very same people who boo Boeing also own Boeing stock or work at Boeing, or both, and are more than happy to watch Boeing stock go up while receiving salary increases and stock dividends. Thousands more are dependent on Boeing as suppliers, contractors and local businesses where Boeing employees spend money for their needs.
Profit is not a dirty word. If there is no profit, our economy disappears in a heartbeat. Why should anyone blame Boeing for trying to maximize profit, the fruits of which are invested back into R &D, salaries, facility maintenance, expansion and stockholder dividends. If there is no profit, there is no new Dreamliner.
There is a huge education gap in the populace regarding economics and how it works in the United States. The City of Everett, the state government and the federal government do not make a profit, and they cannot provide jobs or even exist without companies like Boeing and their employees paying taxes to those very same governments. All government would simply cease to exist without Boeing and private enterprise. There would be no tax money to pay their salaries.
It is as simple as that. What is amazing is how few people seem to understand this.
Edmonds
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