Machinists to Sue Pratt & Whitney over Plant Closures

The IAM announced it would file a lawsuit in federal court following news this week that Pratt & Whitney (P&W) would close its Cheshire Overhaul & Repair facility and the Center for Airfoil Repair (CARO) in East Hartford, CT.

The lawsuit is the next step in a battle to save more than 1,000 IAM jobs at Pratt, and follows two months of often frustrating meetings with management representatives at Pratt.

“It was a sham,” said District 26 Assistant DBR Jim Parent in the New Haven Register of claims by the company that it gave serious consideration to more than $60 million in cost savings proposed by the union and $100 million in tax credits and other incentives offered by the state of Connecticut. “We believe the company had made up its mind (about moving) before it went to the table.”

The ripple effect of the 1,000 layoffs is expected to cause an additional 3,000 to 6,000 layoffs in surrounding communities.

“In pursuing its relentless goal of ever-more profits, Pratt is shutting down two money-making operations with highly-skilled, long-service workforces in communities that have been unswervingly supportive of the business,” said Parent. “This grab to save some money in supposedly lower cost locations could blow up in their face – but company executives chose that route over reasonable alternatives that could preserve the work here.”

New Mexicans Supports Machinists at General Electric

Local 794 President and Directing Business Representative Ernest “Red” Dow, addresses the Albuquerque City Council in favor of a resolution calling on General Electric to preserve the G.E. Aviation plant in Albuquerque. The resolution passed unanimously.

With less than 72 hours remaining before the conclusion of a 60-day “Decision Bargaining” period, support is pouring in for the 400 members of Local 794 who are fighting to save their jobs at the G.E. Aviation repair facility in Albuquerque, NM.

In a letter to G.E. CEO Jeffrey Immelt from the New Mexico congressional delegation, the lawmakers expressed their disappointment in the decision by G.E. to close the facility and urged the company to consider upgrading the plant. “We believe such an investment deserves serious consideration from all vested stakeholders, including city, county, state and federal entities, as well as G.E., its workers and representatives,” said the letter.

In addition to letters of support from elected local, state and federal leaders, the New Mexico Federation of Labor weighed in with a blunt assessment of the proposed closing, saying it would be “devastating” to the surrounding economy.

Additionally, the Albuquerque City Council approved a resolution calling on General Electric to meet with the New Mexico congressional delegation to explore ways to keep the jet engine facility open and to also consider additional high-skill and green manufacturing opportunities in the state.

Local 794 President Ernest “Red” Dow summed up the feelings of many workers and their supporters in a featured editorial in the states largest newspaper: “These high quality jobs have been in our community for 40 years and played a crucial role in our standard of living,” wrote Dow. “We have an obligation to give our children the same opportunities to enjoy a good level of compensation and benefits.”

Taxing Union Health Care Benefits?

On Sept. 16, Senator Baucus (D-MT), Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, released a deeply flawed health care reform bill that fails to meet the most basic promise of health care reform, and threatens to shift more costs to employees represented by labor unions.

IAM members in Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington and West Virginia are urged to contact their senators at 1-877-264-4226 and insist the legislation be revised to eliminate the excise tax on workers' health care benefits. IAM members may also contact their senators via an IAM Action Alert to say "no" on taxing health care benefits.

In addition to imposing an excise tax on certain so-called "high-cost" health plans, the proposed legislation will force cuts in benefits and cause more cost shifting to workers.

The bill also fails to include a public option as included in the House bills. Instead, it would establish state and regionally based co-ops. These small, non-profit insurance plans will have very little market clout and no ability to drive changes in the market that will lead to lower costs overall.

Kentucky ’s Ken Koch Honored for Decades of Service

Long-time IAM activist Ken Koch was presented this week with the 2010 Labor Person of the Year award by the Kentucky Labor Cabinet and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development.

Koch has been active in the Louisville and Kentucky labor scene for decades. The 35-year IAM member is president of both District 27 and Local 681, in addition to serving as vice president of the Greater Louisville Central Labor Council and Vice President of the Kentucky AFL-CIO. He’s also a member of Gov. Steve Beshear’s Unemployment Task Force, and sits on the University of Louisville Advisory Board.

“I can’t think of anyone more deserving for this recognition than Ken Koch,” said Southern Territory GVP Bob Martinez. “Ken is everywhere in Kentucky, working for the IAM, the AFL-CIO, on issues ranging from housing for the elderly to retirees and unemployment. He works tirelessly for the working families of Kentucky, and the entire IAM family is very proud of Ken.”

Koch joined the IAM at Phillip Morris in Louisville, KY, and retired when Phillip Morris closed the Louisville facility in 2000. Retirement certainly hasn’t slowed down Koch, who also serves on the MNPL Planning Committee and remains very active in state political races, constantly campaigning for working families in Kentucky.

“The Unemployment Task Force is keeping me very busy,” said Koch. “This is not a standing committee for the state—it was formed last March and we plan to wrap up in October with a report to the Governor. He tasked us with the tough job of reorganizing the state unemployment system, to modernize it and bring it back to solvency.”

The Labor Person of the Year award has been awarded annually since its inception in 1987. Previous IAM members to receive the honor include District 27 DBR Ron Harsh and Local 681 President James A. Hinton.

Global Federations Demand Action on Jobs Crisis

As leaders from across the world prepare for the upcoming G20 summit in Pittsburgh, PA, three Global Union Federations, representing 55 million industrial workers, are calling on the economic powers to focus on the worldwide jobs crisis.

Leaders from the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), and the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) stress the immediate need for summit leaders to recognize true recovery can only happen if people are working.

The federations call attention to the “Pittsburgh Declaration,” a statement by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) issued last week that demands more job-creating stimulus, a changed mindset by international financial institutions regarding jobs, human and trade union rights, and more stringent financial governance and market regulation.

“What has occurred thus far,” says IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina, “is that huge sums have been poured into financial institutions, while these same institutions have failed to manage their fundamental task—to finance a viable industrial economy. We demand that governments address the critical issue of employment, particularly the human adversity brought on by precarious labour, a form of work that undermines the industrial structures of the global north and destroys equitable development opportunities in the south.”

The G20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries, including the U.S. This week’s meeting, which starts September 24th, will be their third summit in less than a year.

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