Letter to Bechtel Plant Machinery President T.F. Hash
Schumer, Clinton, Mcnulty Demand Bechtel Follow Through With True 60-Day Hold
U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton and Congressman McNulty today released the following letter to the President of Bechtel:
December 5, 2006
T.F. Hash President Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc. 5275 Westview Drive Frederick, MD 21703-8306
Dear Mr. Hash,
We were encouraged with the letter we received from you on December 1st announcing that Bechtel Plant Machinery Incorporated (BPMI) put a 60-day hold on the possibility of moving operations from Schenectady, New York to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This letter gave us reason to believe that Bechtel - long a valued corporate citizen in the Capital District - was serious about working with us, the Mayor of Schenectady and the Navy to find alternatives to closing your operations in Schenectady. We stand ready to assist in that effort.
However, we were disturbed to learn of a recent company memo distributed to BPMI employees asking them to submit final decisions by December 11th on whether they will relocate to Pittsburgh as part of this consolidation plan. It is unfortunate that BPMI has asked for these commitments, considering that hours earlier your company agreed to put on hold any "irrevocable action" for 60 days regarding the planned consolidation of these two sites.
Obviously this is confusing and will create undue stress for Bechtel's employees and the community. Soliciting - and receiving -- decisions on personnel could very well prejudice your ultimate decision on the facility. To clarify, we ask that you immediately contact all 330 BPMI employees in Schenectady and lift this deadline until after a final decision on consolidation has been made.
We were further troubled to learn that Bechtel continues to recruit in Pittsburgh to fill vacancies from the resignation or retirement of Schenectady based employees. That action sends the wrong signal and we also ask that these recruitment efforts cease.
Based on the information provided in your December 1, 2006 letter, we are committed to keeping BPMI operations in Schenectady. With a world-class workforce and unrivaled location, we believe we can make a compelling case to remain in Schenectady. We look forward to working with you in good faith to achieve this result. Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer U.S. Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton U.S. Senator
Michael R. McNulty U.S. Representative
http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/record.cfm?id=266560&&year=2006&