Catherwood LibraryILR School

The International Union of Machinists, representing 3,700 workers at a Pratt & Whitney plant in Cheshire, Connecticut filed a suit against the company at a US District Court in Hartford. The union alleges that the company has negotiated in bad faith, seeking profit rather than making an effort to avoid layoffs. The company maintains that it has done everything in its power to avoid closing the Cheshire plant. The plant is scheduled to close by the end of 2011, with the first 1,000 job cuts coming early in 2010. If the union wins in court, the current labor contract could be extended through the end of 2010, with negotiations or strike action to come then. However, even if all job cuts were postponed until then, the company would retain the right to close the plant entirely at the end of 2010.