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| UE Local 204 members and supporters have been waging a year-long campaign to keep their worplace, the Haskon Aerospace plant, open. Here they're taking their message through the streets of Taunton in a march held last April. Helping carry the banner were Taunton Mayor Charles Crowley, Congressman Barney Frank, and State Senator Marc Pacheco. |
Local 204 is in a fight for its life against the multinational aerospace corporation Esterline Technologies. Late in October Esterline closed the Haskon plant, which made silicone gaskets and door-seals for aircraft manufacturers and the federal government. Local 204 members want to reopen the Haskon plant with new ownership, and have received preliminary backing from the Taunton City Council to secure the plant’s presses and other equipment through eminent domain, if necessary.
But Esterline has reneged on an earlier commitment to sell the equipment to union members or to an investor group backed by the union, in order to restart the plant. “They told us a year ago they did not want the presses or equipment,” says Local 204 President Scott Marques. “But they would rather junk them than sell them to us.”
Esterline has scheduled a December 14 auction to sell off the equipment piecemeal. The union, city council, Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), and State Sen. Mark Pacheco (D-Taunton) have all asked Esterline to postpone the auction to provide time to secure financing to restart the plant. If the company does not call off the auction, the local has asked other unions and supporters to join in a rally and mass picketing at the plant on December 14.
The current corporate owner of the 80-year-old Haskon plant, Esterline Technologies Corp. of Bellevue, Wash, announced in December 2009 its plan to close the Taunton plant and consolidate operations to a facility in Brea, Calif. and another in Mexico. Esterline said it had no interest in moving the equipment from the plant, but also refused to cooperate with union efforts to spin off Haskon as an independent company that could serve the small business segment of the aircraft sealant industry.
The fight to save the plant centers on the presses and other equipment, not the real estate. Esterline leases rather than owns the factory building, and the landlord would rather see the plant reopen than sit vacant. Taunton City Council has responded positively to the union’s request that it secure the machinery through eminent domain, then sell it to a combination of investors, the union and its 85 laid-off workers, who could operate the plant as an independent company. A feasibility study earlier this year by the ICA Group of Brookline, MA concluded that such a company could succeed in the aircraft sealant market.
At city council’s request, the union brought in an appraiser to determine the value of the plant’s assets that would be taken by eminent domain. The union has also hired the longtime former president of Haskon as a consultant.
Local 204 is asking for emails, faxes, and calls to Esterline requesting a delay of the auction till February 15. Contact Esterline Corp., 500 108th Ave. NE, Suite 1500, Bellevue, WA 98004, 425-453-9400, fax: 425-453-2916, info@esterline.com.
Both Labor Notes and Working In These Times have excellent recent news reports on the Haskon struggle.
See the Keep Haskon Jobs In Taunton! Facebook page for updated information, including on the December 14 auction protest.