(St. Louis)  --  St. Louis residents are standing behind the tens of thousands of Missouri and Illinois jobs that are at stake with proposed cuts to national defense spending.

   Representatives from both political parties vowed to protect the states' defense jobs at a rally in Bridgeton Sunday.

   President Bob Soutier of the Greater St. Louis Labor Board spoke at the event in support of Boeing factory workers.
   Soutier said saving Boeing workers will save the city's faltering economy.

   The U.S. Defense Department's proposed budget cuts funding for C-17 transport planes and FA-18 super hornets, both built in St. Louis.

   Soutier said the cuts would eliminate an estimated 40,000 local jobs and two-billion-dollars in revenue.


  (Copyright 2009 by Newsroom Solutions)