Author of bill giving Boeing $9 billion tax break gives his take on company's plan to cut 2,000 jobs

SEATTLE -- The board of  Boeing's engineering union expressed “disappointment” about the impending jobs losses among its ranks.

This comes a day after the company announced that it will be cutting 2,000 engineers from the region.  Boeing says it’s moving the work to Oklahoma and Missouri.  The jobs are in the defense division, and will affect workers in Kent and Seattle.

The plan comes less than a year after the aerospace giant received a record $9 billion in tax breaks from Washington state designed to keep work in this region.



On Tuesday, the chief author of that tax-break package responded to the company’s decision.

“It’s frustrating, and I think it’s disappointing,” said state Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle.  “But I don’t think it violates the spirit of the overall relationship between Boeing and Washington state, when you look at the fact that they have increased by tens of thousands the numbers of employees they’ve had since 2003.”

Boeing says it will work with those affected to help with relocation or, if possible, transfer them to other divisions in this region.