Labor Leaders from IFPTE and SPEEA gathered at a rally in Washington, D.C. Thursday to ask Members of Congress to reverse a recent Air Force decision to award a $40 billion tanker contract to French-based EADS/AIRBUS.

The Pentagon's decision would in essence ship tens of thousands of U.S. aerospace manufacturing jobs to France and put critical defense technology and manufacturing know-how into the hands of a foreign nation.

Democrat and Republican Members of Congress attending the pro-U.S. tanker rally included: Sens. Murray (D-WA), Cantwell (D-WA), Roberts
(R-KS), Reps. Dicks (D-WA), Tiahrt, (R-KS), Reichert (R-WA) and Inslee (D-WA).

They were joined by Engineers Union President Greg Junemann, Cynthia Cole, President of SPEEA, Debbie Logsdon, SPEEA Midwest Chief and IFPTE Vice President, as well as national IFPTE and SPEEA members.