Connecticut Lawmakers Help Preserve 3,000 Jobs

IAM District 26 took time out from their non-stop battle to save Connecticut aerospace jobs to deliver a public “thank you” to the Connecticut congressional delegation for their help defeating legislation that would have cost up to 3,000 jobs.

Attending the event at the Local 700 union hall in Middletown, CT, was Senator Joe Lieberman, who introduced the successful Senate amendment to kill funding for the 2nd source engine for the F-35, and U.S. Representatives John Larson, Rosa DeLauro and Joe Courtney, all of whom fought hard for contracts to keep Pratt & Whitney workers on the job and to block UTC from closing profitable plants in Connecticut..

Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd led a successful effort to defeat two amendments by Arizona Senator John McCain and win Senate approval for 10 additional C-17 military cargo planes. The funding translates into 40 more F-117 Pratt & Whitney engines made in Connecticut.  It is hoped that this additional work will help fill the workload hole created by the cancellation of the F-22 program.

Thanks to the combined efforts of the IAM, GrowJobs CT and the Connecticut congressional delegation, up to 3,000 Connecticut jobs will be preserved, a figure that could triple when factoring in vendors, suppliers and indirect employment.

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