In Everett, tanker decision is "like a slap in the face"

Soon after the news broke this afternoon, Boeing workers gathered at the Machinist building in Everett. Outside on the sidewalk, they waved signs in protest.

Dave Muellenbach, 57, of Marysville, who has worked for more than a decade on the 767 final assembly in quality assurance inspections, said he'd been certain Boeing was going to win the tanker bid.

"The whole line is disappointed by this," he said. "It's a sad day for Boeing."

Signs posted throughout the building read "R.I.P. U.S.-built tanker 1930-2008" and "We will get a new tanker made in France?"

Steve Spyridis, 39, lead engineer for environmental control systems and SPEEA council chair, said news that Northrop and EADS, not Boeing, would build the Air Force's 179 tankers felt "like a slap in the face," he said.

"We have a proven track record," Spyridis, of Ballard, said. "We know we have a good product."

Joel Hetland, 50, actually works on the 787 production line, but called those on the 767 his "brothers." The Snohomish resident held up a sign outside the Machinist building that read: "We build the best."

"I just don't think the government should have allowed this to happen," he said. Hetland echoed the sentiments of other Boeing workers who said they were worried about national security, sending good American jobs overseas and the local economy in Snohomish County.

"We were counting on this," he said.

Michael Cummins, 52, of Everett, blamed the ethics scandal that emerged during the earlier tanker competition for costing Boeing the bid this time as well.

"It boils down to past history," said Cummins, who works on interior mechanics for planes including the 767. "You can never take things back after they're done."

"I'm offended," said Cummins. "I'm offended because these are our tax dollars."

Cynthia Cole, president of Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), the white-collar engineering union at Boeing, said she thought company leadership has done everything possible to remove the stigma of past scandals.

"I would hope it had nothing to do with that," she said of today's decision.

Cole said she is not only disappointed for Boeing workers, but also for Air Force workers.

"The Air Force is getting an inferior product and unproven technology," she said.

She called for a "firefight" in Congress on Monday.

As union leaders talked to media, James Williams, 40, of Everett shouted out: "It's the American nightmare."

Williams, who works on confined space monitoring on Boeing planes, including on the 767 line, brought along his 8-year-old daughter to protest after hearing the announcement on the radio.

"This is a major blow," he said.

Tom Wroblewski, district president of the Machinists union, said "American taxpayers should be outraged."

He said that building the tankers should have been "a sacred bond" between American workers and the armed forces.

"The win went to the wrong side," he said.