More on Boeing

Don’t take my word for it. Read this article from The Washington Post and see for yourself. Boeing’s move to South Carolina is about breaking unions. It’s about driving down your wages and your standard of living -- no matter where you live or what you do.

Boeing's S.C. jobs a setback for unions

It’s really simple so don’t try to make it complicated. Union members make more money. Despite all the attacks on unions since Ronald Reagan declared open season on them, their members still make more money. Every business in Washington State has to compete with Boeing for workers. That means they have to pay higher wages. Unions drive up wages for everyone -- even for those that aren’t members.

Businesses think this is bad. That is understandable. But it is also shortsighted. Boeing wouldn’t sell many airplanes to America if everyone was paid Wal-Mart wages. There would be no travel industry because no one could afford to fly.

To look at this from another angle, take a look at the current world-wide economic crisis. When American’s stop spending, the world goes broke. Look at the relative size of the economies of the world. You have to add the GDP of next three biggest economies together to get close to the U.S. And specifically for Boeing, you should look at defense spending. I’m not even going to try to add that up. The U.S. spends more than the top 10 (20 ?) combined.

”U.S. purchases account for 47 percent of world military expenditures in 2003, “

The point being, Boeing gets a hefty hunk of that money. Your money. Boeing can talk about “shareholders” all it wants. If they stop getting American’s money -- taxpayer’s money -- they go broke. Tomorrow. That gives the U.S. Government -- you and me -- tremendous leverage over them. You may not recognize it anymore than you recognize the leverage the American consumer has over the rest of the world. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

For just one idea on how that leverage can be used, do a little reading on the Davis-Bacon Act. It is your government. It is your money. Congress is fully capable of passing laws that protect the people. They’ve certainly done so for the corporations.

Don Brown
October 30, 2009