Lawmakers Consider Pratt Aid

By DEBRA BOGSTIE

Updated 1:15 PM EDT, Fri, Aug 14, 2009

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

State lawmakers are looking at possible options to help Pratt and Whitney, in the hopes of keeping the company from moving about 1,000 jobs out of Connecticut.

The state Legislature's Commerce Committee held an informational hearing Friday morning at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

"We are very, very concerned and we want to do whatever we can to stop those jobs from leaving," Rep. Chris Donovan (D-Meriden), the Speaker of the House, said.

The hearing comes in response to Pratt's announcement earlier this summer that it is considering closing its Cheshire engine plant by 2011 and its airfoil repair unit in East Hartford in 2010.

The machinist's union is now in a 45-day negotiation period with Pratt aimed at finding a way for the company to keep the jobs here.

James Parent, the union's chief negotiator, told lawmakers the union questions whether the company would save as much money as it expects in moving the jobs to Georgia, Singapore and Japan.

"We submit that this whole scheme ultimately not only unfairly abandons a successful and loyal work force here in Connecticut, it also represents a grave risk to the company's overhaul and repair business going forward," said Parent, during the hearing.

Parent encouraged lawmakers to close tax loopholes that make it advantageous for companies to move work elsewhere. He also called on the federal government to take steps to protect all manufacturing in this tough economy, especially military work, which he says Pratt indicated would partially move overseas.

Lawmakers invited Pratt executives to participate in the hearing, but they declined, according to Sen. Gary LeBeau (D- East Hartford).

Pratt President David Hess did send a letter to Speaker Donovan saying costs in Cheshire run "40 percent higher" than costs at the company's plant in Columbus, Georgia.

"No evaluation of closing or relocating any operation is undertaken lightly," Hess wrote. "The impact of any decision on our employees, our customers and the long-term health of the company weighs heavily in our considerations."

One option that is available to potentially assist Pratt involves the use of federal stimulus money, said Rep. Jeff Berger (D- Waterbury).

Other options involve incentives like increased tax credits and training dollars, said Joan McDonald, the Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development.

She told lawmakers her office has reached out to Pratt, at the request of the governor, and is working on a possible package.

"We are looking at all the options," she said.

Connecticut ranks toward the top when it comes to states with the highest costs of doing business in this country, said Joseph Brennan, of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association.

"Hopefully, this will be a bit of a wake up call," he told lawmakers.

The union plans to review company financial information and draw up a potential cost savings plan that stops short of wage cuts or other givebacks, said Parent. The union meets with company officials again next week.