Ending Defense contracts offers opportunity for economic transition
by Jasmin Maurer, PEP Director
Letter to the Editor 9-26 St. Louis Post Dispatch
The Sept. 18 article about Boeing completing its C-17 Globemaster III contract in the St. Louis Post Dispatch showcases a major problem: military manufacturing is not a sustainable jobs program.
Although many of those affected in Boeing will be found other jobs within the company, local manufacturers that produce materials for Boeing may not be able to accommodate employees as easily. The article claims some 17,000 jobs could be affected by the completion of the C-17.
As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, the need for weapons is diminishing. Companies like Boeing will complete their contracts, and workers within the field will find that their job prospects are drying up because civilians simply do not need military-grade weapons. Not unless we want to perpetually be at war.
Fortunately, the government already thought of this. The Department of Economic Adjustment (OEA) was created to provide technical and financial assistance to communities that are heavily reliant on military production figure out how to transition to civilian industries. St. Louis has used this resource before, creating a plan that re-employed 75 percent of workers laid off by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) after the Cold War.
Additionally, the governor of Connecticut has signed a bill that creates a commission to plan for a conversion from military industries to civilian and environmentally sustainable manufacturing.
In a time of ending war and severe climate crisis, this plan isn’t just practical, it’s very important. It’s also something that we need to think about here in St. Louis, especially if we hope to keep our workers employed.
