Congressional OK for GE 2nd engine

LYNN – The president of General Electric’s largest labor union in Lynn was wearing a smile Wednesday after learning that Congress’ Armed Service Committee is authorizing $560 million to fund the company’s alternative engine for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. John McCain, the ranking member, acknowledged in a conference report that the National Defense Authorization Bill for fiscal 2010 authorizes the Department of Defense to fund the engine made jointly by GE and Rolls Royce.Pratt & Whitney won the primary contract to build the engine, known as the F135. GE executives proposed building a second version, the F136, contending that competition would keep costs down and quality up.President Barack Obama had several expensive weapons systems targeted for termination, including the Air Force’s boondoggle F-22 air-to-air combat fighter, a new VH-71 Presidential helicopter and the GE-Rolls Royce rival engine for the JSF.Once operational, various versions of the the JSF, also known as the F-35 Lightning, will be used by the Air Force, Navy and Marines. The aircraft will replace the fighter planes currently used by the U.S. military, including the FA/18 that relies on a GE-made F414 engine.The congressional report released Wednesday authorizes $380 million for the GE-Rolls engine and another $180 million for the Air Force to begin procuring them.Jeffrey Crosby, president of IUE-CWA Local 201 in Lynn, said the congressional committee’s recommendation is a strong indication that the alternative engine funds will become a reality.”This is very big news for the union,” he said, noting that some of the engines would be manufactured at the River Works.The defense authorizations will be ironed out in Congress so that both House and Senate are in agreement on the same provisions and amounts before final vote are taken. The House could vote as early as today.”I can’t actually confirm that GE will get the engine funded, but now that the F136 is out of conference committee it’s all but certain to pass Congress. Then the only hurdle is President Obama, and I think it’s very unlikely that he will veto the Defense Appropriations Bills if the F136 is the only issue,” Crosby said.Crosby also noted that the entire CWA (Communications Workers of America) union was mobilized after the Senate first rejected the GE-Rolls engine by a vote of 38-59. “We targeted the no votes to give them different information than they might have had, and used union contacts across the country to approach the senators,” he said, adding that Sen. John Kerry vowed to support the initiative. “I met with Sen. Kerry and he promised to take up the work of (the late Sen. Edward Kennedy) for the F136 engine and the Lynn plant. He told me, ‘I will be your champion.’ “Kerry confirmed as much Wednesday. “Developing the alternative engine for the Joint Strike Fighter will create competition, support our national defense and help expand our economy in Massachusetts keeping good jobs in Lynn,” he said. “That’s a win-win-win for Massachusetts and the country.”