Workers say Boeing tax breaks should come with jobs

OLYMPIA — Machinists and aerospace engineers hiked the halls of Olympia on Friday, asking lawmakers to scale back a lucrative tax break for the Boeing Co. if it continues moving jobs to other states.

They went office-to-office to let lawmakers know much has happened in the two years since the state extended a suite of incentives worth $8.7 billion in tax savings for Boeing, and not all of it good, in their opinion.

As the company ramps up its development of the new 777X passenger jet in Everett, as promised, it has also shed 3,619 jobs, union leaders said Friday. Many of those jobs are getting shifted to states where Boeing can net additional tax breaks by increasing employment, they said.

“They’re double-dipping,” said Adrian Camez, a Machinist in the 787 program at the Everett modification center. “They’re taking our tax incentive, and taking their tax incentives, and taking our jobs to those other states.”

About 200 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 751 and Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) came to the state Capitol Friday.

They asked lawmakers to consider a bill written by Rep. June Robinson, D-Everett.

It would require Boeing maintain a minimum number of jobs to keep its tax break. If the total drops below a prescribed bar, some of the tax break goes away.

“We need some hard incentives that would give aerospace companies more incentive to keep jobs here,” said Rod Siders, a 15-year Boeing employee and member of SPEEA.

Robinson’s bill lapsed in the House Finance Committee in the 2015 session. The committee’s new leader said Friday it’s too soon to say if she’ll reintroduce the legislation in the 2016 session. The 2016 legislative session convenes Jan. 11 and is scheduled to adjourn March 10.

“I am going to be spending a lot of time in the coming weeks talking with stakeholders and getting up to speed on the issues,” said Rep. Kristine Lytton, D-Anacortes, who voted for the tax break extension in 2013. “I am not going to take a hard-line stance on anything.”

Neither Boeing nor IAM and SPEEA disagree that there has been a net loss of jobs since passage of the tax package. At that time, Boeing reported 83,295 employees in the state. Union leaders said the 3,691 jobs cut from the company work force since then comes straight from Boeing’s own reports.

Larry Brown, political director for the Machinists, said that figure should bolster their efforts this year.

“One thing that is different is the number of jobs lost is different. We just continue to lose jobs,” he said.

Boeing, meanwhile, reminds lawmakers that the company is keeping its pledge to build a new plane in Everett and is counting on them to keep theirs in terms of the incentives.

“We expect successful and long production runs of the 777X and firmly believe the tax incentives have the strictest accountability standards of any incentives in the state,” Boeing spokesman Doug Alder wrote in an email.

“Claw backs are unnecessary and harmful because they undermine the ability of aerospace companies to respond nimbly to competitive threats,” he wrote. “Claw back provisions added to incentives after Washington companies have already relied on them … are particularly harmful, as they cast doubt on the state’s willingness to stand behind bills that have been signed into law. Such uncertainty would make Washington a less attractive place to do business.”

Meanwhile Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg, said Friday he’d like lawmakers to reconsider the approach he offered earlier this year.

He introduced House Bill 2265 to require Boeing sustain at least 79,500 jobs in Washington. Each year, the Employment Security Department would let lawmakers know if the target is being met or exceeded. If it isn’t, then the Legislature can consider a response.

The intent of the 2013 extension was to maintain and grow the aerospace industry but didn’t set a baseline from which to measure gains or losses. He said that’s needed before one can talk about revising an incentive.

“I think this is the most empirically accurate way to do it,” he said.

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Lynnwood
Crash in Lynnwood fully blocks Highway 99

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, fully blocked southbound lanes. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

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.