Mass. lawmakers urge Army to keep multimillion-dollar contract in state

Some Massachusetts lawmakers are calling on the Army to cancel a $9 million contract to produce military backpacks if the contractor moves ahead with its plan to close a manufacturing plant in the state and shift operations to Puerto Rico later this summer.

In May, Minneapolis-based Alliant Techsystems Inc., a large defense and aerospace contractor also known as ATK, announced that it would close a New Bedford, Mass., textiles factory where roughly 350 employees work on the Army's Modular Lightweight Load Carrying Equipment (MOLLE) contract.

Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, and Rep. Barney Frank, all Massachusetts Democrats, wrote a June 3 letter to Dean Popps, Defense's acting assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, in which they called ATK's decision to close the plant "abrupt and unnecessary."

The lawmakers argued that the relocation would hurt the domestic apparel base and interfere with the performance of the contract. They said the Army should insist the work be performed in New Bedford, or cancel the contract.

"That is the only way for the Army to be certain ATK meets the Army's needs under the existing contract," the letter said. "To require any less would be to inject unnecessary risk and uncertainty into a contract needed to supply our troops with important equipment for no purpose greater than ATK's narrow corporate interests."

Several contractors hold the MOLLE contract, including Eagle Industries of Fenton, Mo. ATK purchased Eagle Industries, which operated the New Bedford plant, on April 1. The company said it would complete all existing orders for the New Bedford facility through July 31, when operations would move to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

Eagle's MOLLE contract is for three years with an option for a fourth year. It is unclear if the Army will exercise that option.

Lawmakers acknowledged they do not have the authority to prevent ATK from closing the factory. Under the 1941 Berry amendment all military apparel and textiles must be made in the United States or its territories, which include Puerto Rico.

The Army Natick Soldier Center in Natick, Mass., manages the MOLLE contract and must approve all requests to move production to other facilities. But ATK spokeswoman Amanda Covington said Eagle's contract with the Army provides for two locations of work: New Bedford and Puerto Rico.

"Eagle is not moving any existing work from New Bedford," Covington said. "Future contracts will be manufactured at an existing, government qualified facility."

The Natick Center referred all calls to the Army's Program Executive Officer Soldier office in Ft. Belvoir, Va., which did not respond to a request for comment.

Last month, ATK officials pointed to an analysis the company conducted before it purchased Eagle, which showed that the New Bedford facility "is operating well below capacity and this action will help ensure a more competitive and viable business. Eagle will maintain continuity and uncompromised delivery to customers throughout this effort."

ATK said it was offering employment assistance to the New Bedford employees including r é sum é writing and interview workshops.

But labor officials said the New Bedford facility is far from underutilized, and plant closure is a blatant attempt to increase profits and to prevent Eagle employees from unionizing.

"There is an incentive to relocate factories to locations where they can do the work for less," said Eric Sharfstein, spokesman for Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, which has assisted Eagle employees during the dispute.

Since April 2008, Eagle workers -- many of whom make $9 per hour -- have tried to form a union but management has resisted, Sharfstein said.

Covington declined to respond to the labor union's claims.

Last week, the Community Economic Development Center in New Bedford released a report which found that the factory closure would cost taxpayers $4 million.

This is not the first time the MOLLE contract and the New Bedford factory have sparked controversy.

In March 2007, Homeland Security Department officials raided the plant, then run by Michael Bianco Inc., and arrested hundreds of illegal workers along with the plant's owner and three managers, citing sweatshop conditions and "egregious hiring practices." Eight months earlier, Bianco had won a $138 million task order under the MOLLE contract.

In November 2007, Eagle purchased the facility and continued with the contract operations.