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January 6, 2014

Boeing Workers Accept Major Concessions to Keep 777X in Washington 
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In Washington state, the 30,000-member union of machinists has narrowly
accepted a new contract from Boeing that includes major concessions on
pensions, healthcare benefits and wage growth. The union had rejected
Boeing's previous offer by 67 percent in November. Boeing then began
soliciting bids from other states to host production of its 777X
aircraft. The firm also tweaked its offer, adding an additional $5,000
bonus. On Friday, the union accepted the new contract with just 51
percent voting in favor. To entice Boeing, Washington state had approved
the largest corporate tax break by a state to a single corporation in
U.S. history. The measure hands Boeing $8.7 billion worth of incentives
through 2040 to build the its new aircraft in Washington. We'll have
more on the Boeing vote with Seattle's new Socialist city council
member, Kshama Sawant, later in the broadcast.

 

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