Boeing upper management has said many things which have part truth in them but in reality are not true. Recently, the company put out a flyer which said its proposal would not cost any jobs. They say it will only affect 260 jobs and those people will not lose their jobs but as time goes on the company will not replace them as “natural attrition occurs.”
I suggest that 260 IAM jobs will be lost as a result of this proposal. Thousands of jobs in this community and state have been sub-contracted out to other nations with the Boeing Co. saying “no jobs will be lost,” meaning only that the company shall reduce employment in those jobs by attrition. When I first started to work for the Boeing Co. in 1967 only one person in a family had to work to have a reasonable living while their spouse could work in the home sending the kids to school and being there for them after school.
As for retirement, if this business was such that the Boeing Co. never had to lay off anyone then it would be possible for those employees to retire with dignity. But the reality is, with the up and down cycle of aviation, the so-called VIP (401k) plan is not a steady source of savings. It used to be when one was laid off then one had to pull their money out of the VIP plan after 30 days and in many cases had to use the money one had saved to pay bills, support their family needs and search for another job. Boeing retirement for years of service should not be dependent on a pie in the sky VIP plan that one cannot consistently put their money into to save for retirement.
Everett
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