In response to my earlier post, 26-year Boeing veteran Richard Webb sent me this email this morning from his Boeing email address:

Congratulations! This is going to be one of the last emails that I ever send from my Boeing email account. While Boeing has been promising (?) that they might keep (some) jobs in Washington if the machinists accept their “offer”, I’m one of 1200 people that are being laid off today. Maybe assembling some of some plane components will keep some jobs in the state, but I think that they’re really just shuffling jobs around, eliminating some while keeping some other ones. For now.

I got my notice two months ago, almost the same time that Boeing corporate started “talking” to the state and the union about how things are gonna be from now on. My “from now on” is probably lifetime unemployment. After working at Boeing for 26 years, nobody wants to hire an old guy. So I’m gone.

And that pension? That’s the only thing that will keep me alive for three and a half more years until I can access my 401K account without penalty.

Yeah, I’m a little bitter. I think I’m justified. There are dicks in my wallet and in my future, and it’s more than a bit painful.

Rich Webb

I asked Webb if I could repost his email, and he consented. His only regret? That he didn't use swear words.