Boeing’s Job Pledge in Seattle Sets Stage for Future Conflict

Boeing Co. has promised to keep aircraft production in the Pacific Northwest under a tentative labor agreement with the International Association of Machinists, the latest test of job-protection pacts that have produced uneven results in other sectors.

The labor deal would not only protect jobs in the Pacific Northwest for at least four years, but also lay the groundwork for a new commercial plane built in Washington state—a notable change for a company that not long ago shipped jobs to South Carolina.

But such agreements, while appealing in the short-term, often lay the groundwork for future conflict, industry observers ...