Hoffa Urges Air Force to Terminate Foreign Contract, Keep Military Jobs in U.S.

Keeping Military Manufacturing Jobs At Home A Matter Of National Security

WASHINGTON, June 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union called on
the U.S. 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.

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.

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Leigh Strope International Brotherhood of Teamsters, +1-202-624-6911,
lstrope@teamster.org