Pratt & Whitney to Cut 1,000 Jobs

Pratt & Whitney, the jet engine maker, announced Monday that the company is cutting 1,000 jobs in Connecticut by 2011 and transferring engine repair work to Georgia and Asia to cut costs, according to Associated Press.

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Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), will shut its Cheshire, CT plant by early 2011 and shift some operations from its East Hartford facility beginning in the second quarter of next year. Work will be moved to Columbus, GA, Singapore and Japan.

Pratt & Whitney, which is suffering from declines in airline demand, employs 35,000 workers worldwide, with 11,000 in Connecticut. A spokesman said the net loss of jobs companywide is unclear as work is moved out of the state, primarily to cut labor costs.

In deciding to terminate the jobs in Connecticut, Pratt & Whitney rejected an offer that the Machinists union valued at more than $80 million in wage and other concessions and a state plan proposing $100 million in economic assistance over five years.

The company said the two proposals failed to come up with $53.8 million needed in annual and recurring savings to avoid shutting the two operations.

R.A. Warters, the company's vice president of industrial relations, told union officials in a letter that management is "extremely disappointed that our collective efforts fell short and that our work together was unable to identify a viable alternative" to eliminating the jobs.

The Machinists, which represent 3,700 Pratt & Whitney employees, accused the company of "pursuing its relentless goal of ever-more profit."

"This grab to save money at 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," the Machinists said.

Pratt & Whitney has vastly scaled back operations in the state since the 1960s, when more than 20,000 workers were employed.

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