Stardate 20010919.0635 (On Screen): Boeing has announced that it will lay off 30,000 workers. Well, maybe. The plan is to lay them off by the end of 2002; they probably won't be laying off anyone in the next week or two. I think maybe we're seeing some grand-standing here. Congress is
considering a bill right now to give a pile of money and loan-guarantees to the airline industry; the bill was turned down already once and is up for consideration again next week. I think Boeing is trying to raise the stakes to force Congress to pass that bill, after which Boeing will announce that not so many layoffs will be needed after all. Which is not to say that I don't think the bill should pass -- I do.
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