Pratt Begins Closure Appeal

Pratt & Whitney has begun its appeal of a court ruling that it cannot close two Connecticut repair facilities. As WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports, the state’s Attorney General was one of those giving testimony in court Wednesday.

This appeal by the East Hartford-based jet engine maker follows a decision in U.S. Superior Court in Bridgeport in February that barred the company from closing engine repair plants in Cheshire and East Hartford – a move that would have meant the loss of close to a thousand jobs.

The appeal is being heard in the U.S. Second circuit court of appeals in Manhattan, and Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told the court that Pratt & Whitney has failed to take reasonable efforts to preserve work in the state, as stipulated by a clause in employees’ contracts. He also said in his testimony that the company failed to show that moving the work would result in any substantial savings. Pratt wants to send some of the repair work to Georgia, and some offshore to Japan and Singapore.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Pratt said the initial trial court erred in its ruling by substituting its own business judgment for that of company management, and it stressed that had followed the contract language in good faith. The hearing will continue Thursday.

For WNPR, I'm Harriet Jones.