Boeing won't get new incentives to add 787 line here

Washington State plans no new financial incentives for Boeing in its bid to win a second production line for the 787 Dreamliner.

That's clear from a 32-page document released Monday morning by the office of Gov. Christine Gregoire.

On Friday, Gregoire met with the new chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Jim Albaugh, and presented him with the document outlining the business case for building a second 787 line here.

The presentation includes no new concessions specific to Boeing or the aerospace industry, but instead summarizes the state's existing advantages as a center of civil aerospace manufacturing.

"The greatest benefit from locating the second 787 production line with the existing line is the transfer of learning curve efficiencies to the new line," the document states.

Under previous Governor Gary Locke, Washington state secured the first 787 production line for Everett following an intense site-selection competition in 2003. To win that competition, the state offered tax breaks and other incentives worth around $3 billion over 20 years.

Six years later, Boeing is considering Everett and Charleston, S.C., for a second assembly line that will be needed to get the production rate up to 10 jets a month.

Boeing has repeatedly made clear this year that a key issue in the competition is its concern about the company's poor relationship with the Machinists union and the number of strikes in recent years, including a two-month work stoppage in 2008. Boeing has been pressuring the union to agree not to strike when the next contract comes around in 2012, but so far the union shows no sign of agreeing.

In contrast, South Carolina is a "right-to-work" state, not friendly to unions. Workers at the Boeing Charleston plant, where the rear fuselage of the 787 is built, recently ousted the union.

On this issue, the Governor's report offers only an assurance that officials are working on the issue:

"Only Boeing and its unions can negotiate labor-management agreements," the document states. "But leaders in our community and our elected officials can contribute to an atmosphere of improving those relations by ensuring the environment exists to engage in meaningful, productive negotiations. Key elected officials and a host of community leaders are working to ensure this atmosphere exists in Washington."