Is the machinists' union contract with Boeing a sign of changing times?

Boeing employs more than 174,000 people, with more than 85,000 in and around the Seattle area. A new contract will keep jobs in the region until the year 2022.

The decision was difficult for the 30,000 members of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers. In previous negotiations, union members rejected a contract revision that would move their retirement accounts from a pension program to a 401(k)-style savings plan. Boeing responded by putting out bids to other states. More than 20 applied to the airline company to bring manufacturing to their locations, some offering tax breaks in the billions as incentives.

One union member said the workers' backs were against the wall in signing this contract: "If they (the company) don't get what they want, they're going to take the airplanes away from us."

With estimates that the 777X line is worth 20,000 jobs and more than $20 billion in economic growth, Boeing was essentially pinning state against state. In the end, Washington state passed a series of tax breaks adding up to $8.7 billion. It is the largest state-tax subsidy granted to a privately owned company in U.S. history.