Boeing has recently announced its plans to further boost the company's industrial connections globally. While the move is beneficial to the aircraft manufacturer as a sprawling multinational enterprise, the proposal to put up a factory, particularly in China, would threaten the jobs of the American workers.
Boeing Co. is known as one of the largest global jet maker, the second-largest defense contractor and the largest exporter in the United States. Now, CEO Dennis Muilenberg has announced its plans for a proposed plant in China as the company's global collaboration plans intensified. However, this move was opposed by Boeing's largest union, who vowed on Tuesday to fight for jobs threatened by the proposal, Reuters revealed.
According to International Association of Machinists District 751 President Jon Holden, any job moved out of Washington state, where most Boeing aircrafts are built, would be a significant loss for American workers. He also added that the company told him on Tuesday that the China plant would finish and paint narrow-body 737 planes built at its Renton, Washington facility. Currently, the union represents about 35,000 Boeing workers.
"This is not simply about China," he said. "The company is creating capacity and capability outside the Puget Sound region. Those are our jobs. We'll do everything we can legally and legislatively to protect our jobs."
Furthermore, machinist leader Holden added workers planned to hold Boeing to its commitments to keeping work in the Seattle area in exchange for union labor agreements and tax incentives.
Meanwhile, Boeing Co.'s major overseas plans came after China's President Xi Jinping visited the Everett jet-assembly factory Wednesday, Seattle Times noted. And despite the move, Muilenberg assured that there would be no related jobs lost in the United States.
"It's more than just selling our airplanes or selling our (military) products," Muilenburg said. "It's also about developing partnerships that have depth and breadth, technical content and substance. The model here is global collaboration that allows us to grow jobs in the U.S. and deepen our presence in China."
The proposed China plant is the key to Boeing's fight with rival Airbus Group for control of the Chinese market since the Chinese nation will need $1 trillion worth of new planes over the next two decades. However, China would not only be the company's largest worldwide customer but will become the largest commercial aviation market in the world. It would also play a major role to the production, growth and jobs in the Puget Sound region, as per Dispatch Times.
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