Support grows for presidential action on Pratt factory closure

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) today welcomed the unanimous support of Connecticut's Congressional delegation in the fight to prevent Pratt & Whitney from closing a pair of aircraft factories in Connecticut and eliminating more than 1,000 high-skilled jobs.

In a joint letter to President Obama, the delegation took the unusual step of urging the president to become directly involved and "use every measure at your disposal" to block the decision by Pratt & Whitney to shutter the two factories and move many of the defense-related jobs to overseas locations.

"This is a jobs issue, a national defense issue and a matter of common sense," said IAM Vice President Rich Michalski. "Too much of our manufacturing capability has already been sacrificed in the name of short-term corporate profits. If our economy is to recover, we must take extraordinary steps to preserve the fundamental drivers of economic growth and there is no better example than Connecticut's home grown defense industry."

The appeal to the president is the latest move in a state-wide campaign that has included widespread support from area labor unions, community groups and state officials, including Connecticut's Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who recently filed a friend of the court brief in support of an IAM lawsuit aimed at blocking the move.