How SC won the Boeing deal

This 5-page story (when printed out) picked up by several SC newspapers tells how Boeing selected Charleston for Line 2 and it paints a very different picture than the one in the previous post of the Everett Herald story.

One key item that will be of interest to Washington officials: Boeing held last minute negotiations with SC for an incentive package while keeping Washington in the dark, maintaining that incentives were an issue.

The Seattle Times’ Sunday (Nov. 1) edition has the following special reports, totaling 10 pages when printed out:

Boeing talks a sham: newspaper

Update: Boeing spokesman Tim Healy provided this response to us when we asked about the article:

“We were utterly serious about reaching an agreement. And we told the IAM quite precisely what we needed from them and when.”

Original Post:

The Everett Herald has this stunning story that virtually confirms the IAM’s allegations that talks with Boeing over siting 787 Line 2 were a sham.

US Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Boeing’s biggest supporter in the Senate, was aware of the situation and tried to persuade Boeing to choose Everett, according to the story–which explains why she issued a statement after Boeing’s decision to select Charleston to not blame the union.

Here is the story from The Herald:

Dueling Messages: Boeing vs IAM

The spin wars continue. Earlier today Boeing issued a message to employees explaining, from its perspective, why a deal with the IAM could not be reached.

A few hours later, the IAM 751 responded. We have both after the jump. The Boeing message is first because it was issued first, followed by the IAM note.

787 Line 2 aftermath

Update, Oct. 30: We’ll be posting our post mortem Monday, Nov. 2.

This isn’t the post mortem we’re working on but there is a lot of traffic to this site today, obviously looking for some thoughts, so here are a few rapid-fire ones:

• Boeing says it didn’t go into the labor negotiations with a preconceived decision. But we think if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. We always felt Line 2 was Charleston’s to “lose,” so to speak, and that Everett was a very, very long shot.

Wake up call? C’mon

The Seattle Times called Boeing’s decision to locate 787 Line 2 in Charleston a “wake up call.” So did a few others.

C’mon. Boeing has been leaving Puget Sound (Seattle) for decades, step-by-step. We predicted in April Line 2 would locate in Charleston. How many times does Puget Sound have to wake up?