UE Local 204’s fight to save the Haskon plant, and the jobs of its approximately 100 members, is coming to a head. And the story was the subject of a major report by journalist Roger Bybee on the labor news blog Working In These Times (a project of the progressive newsmagazine In These Times.)

Corporate owner Esterline Technologies is blocking efforts to sell the plant and its equipment so that it can stay in business. Esterline doesn’t want the machines, but as Local 204 President Scott Marques told Bybee, “They’d rather scrap the equipment than allow us to stay in business.”

Bybee also interviewed UE Northeast Region President Peter Knowlton, and describes the union's innovative approach to saving the plant. Boston economic consultants the ICA Group were hired for a study which showed how "federal contracts could form the core of a successful new enterprise." Initially Esterline showed signs of cooperating with union efforts to spin off the Taunton plant with a small-business market niche that would not compete with Esterline's other operations. But the company has reneged on those commitments.   One recent development is a joint letter from the area’s congressman, Democrat Barney Frank, and Massachusetts' two senators, John Kerry (D) and Scott Brown (R), urging Esterline to save the jobs by selling the plant to a new owner.

Read Bybee’s full report on Local 204's fight here.

Also featured on Working In These Times this week is "A Day in the Life of a Warehouse Warrior", a profile of Tory Moore, an activist in Warehouse Workers for Justice. WWJ is the UE-initiated workers' center that is assisting warehouse and logistics industry workers in the Greater Chicago area. The article is by Chicago-based journalist Kari Lydereon, author of Revolt On Goose Island: The Chicago Factory Takeover, and What it Says About the Economic Crisis, a book about UE Local 1110's occupation of Republic Windows and Doors.