The Superbowl is tomorrow, Sunday. Go Seahawks! Check out the gorgeous Boeing-owned 747-8 Freighter decked out in Seahawks colors and icons. (The 12 is for the ’12th man’, the Seahawks supporters). Is the plane a gesture from Boeing trying to make nice, though? For the upcoming manufacture of the new 777X, Boeing took US$8 billion in tax breaks from the State of Washington, then turned around and screwed its Puget Sound workers.
From Bloomberg Businessweek, Jan 9 : Boeing won—and workers lost. Boeing’s decision to play hardball comes at a time of record prosperity for the company, which is boosting its dividend by 50 percent and buying back $10 billion in shares. For 2013, the company is likely to post record net income of $5 billion or more. Boeing’s corporate power play is more evidence that in the economic contest between labor and employer, most employees have little power to improve their collective lot.