Jilted by Boeing, Wichita workers feel duped
In 2008, Boeing asked Kansas officials to help win a $3.5 billion contract for 18 Air Force tankers. Wichita's Mayor Carl Brewer says Kansas had a long history of coming through for Boeing. In fact, Axelrod notes that Boeing received 650 tax breaks over the last 30 years and $3.5 billion dollars in bonds.
"That is an awful lot of money. We thought that meant something to them but obviously in today's environment it didn't," Brewer said.
Brewer and the Kansas congressional delegation lobbied the Pentagon hard. In return Boeing promised the tanker work would be kept in Wichita, saving 2,100 jobs and creating 7,500 more.
Brewer told Axelrod that Boeing promised to stay in Wichita and that he was told "it's gonna be just like it's been for the past 84 years."
All that lobbying paid off. Last February Boeing was awarded the $3.5 billion contract. No one here heard another word until November when, out of the blue, Boeing said it was rethinking its plans.
The company announced it was moving the tanker work out of Kansas to other U.S. plants and closing its Wichita operation next year.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57361398/jilted-by-boeing-wichita-workers-feel-duped/
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I completely agree. 
