Lede: The U.S. Air Force is deciding between a French company and Boeing to supply new aerial refueling tankers – and thousands of U.S. jobs hang in the balance. Doug Cunningham reports.

By Doug Cunningham

The $40 billion dollar contract means critical support for 44,000 U.S. jobs, according to Dr. Gabriela Lemus, Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

[Lemus 1]: “We’re talking about jobs. The difference is something to the extent of 44,000 versus 1,000. And EADS, which is the French company, has partnered with Northrup-Grumman, which gives them a certain amount of cover in the United States. But they’re talking only about 1,000 jobs in the state of Alabama versus 44,000 jobs which would be shared throughout different states.”

By Doug Cunningham

The IRS continues to move ahead with a plan to privatize tax debt collection, despite opposition from the National Treasury Employee’s Union (NTEU) and from some members of Congress. Senator Byron Dorgan has introduced legislation that would prevent the IRS from using private companies to go after tax debts. NTEU President Colleen Kelley says the plan to privatize tax debt collection is unwise and costly and it compromises ther personal information of thousands of taxpayers. Senator Dorgan says the plan will cost up to 24 percent of the money collected when IRS employees can collect the debts for three cents on the dollar.

By Jesse Russell

Ten unions filed a lawsuit Monday against the Defense Department over a proposed merit pay system. The American Federation of Government Employees filed the suit along with nine other federal employee unions alleging that the new system would lessen the collective bargaining rights of employees. Part of the plan gives more flexibility to management to assign work and would reward employees based on merit and not seniority. A similar plan introduced at the Department of Homeland Security was blocked by a federal court judge in August. The judge agreed with the unions who bro