'Keeping Military Manufacturing Jobs At Home A Matter Of National Security'

The Teamsters Union called on the Air Force to terminate a $35 billion contract for 179 aerial refueling tankers that it unfairly gave to a European manufacturer, and award it to U.S.-based Boeing Co., keeping important military manufacturing jobs in the United States.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, cited major errors yesterday in the Air Force's selection of foreign-built Airbus A330, including unfairly skewering the selection process and misleading Boeing. GAO said the Boeing tanker is less costly to operate, saving American taxpayers $8.5 billion over 25 years.

"The Air Force should be ashamed of supporting Europe's military readiness and economy at the expense of America's during a time of war and economic duress at home," said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa.

The Teamsters state that with with the GAO's 'scathing' report, the Air Force has little choice but to reopen the competition, at the very least. The contract, worth an estimated $108 billion over 25 years, would support 44,000 new jobs at home -- at a time when the United States needs them the most. The nation's unemployment rate soared to 5.5 percent last month, the biggest jump in 22 years. Americans lost 49,000 jobs in May.

"Our skills, knowledge, technology and capital are being packed up and sent overseas," Hoffa said. "America's economic power, once the envy of the world, is being threatened. We are giving away our industrial base under the guise of so-called 'free trade agreements.'"

Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

FMI: www.teamster.org