The heads of three Minnesota Senate committees on Wednesday urged Gov. Tim Pawlenty to establish a high-level task force ?devoted to preserving and enhancing Minnesota?s manufacturing sector,? especially Ford?s Twin Cities Assembly Plant.

Workers at the Ford plant were laid off this week, one of five weeks of furloughs expected before the end of the year because of declining sales of the Ranger pickup truck.

Noting that Minnesota has lost 48,000 manufacturing jobs in the last four years, the legislators said the task force should examine the broad challenges facing manufacturers in Minnesota.

Specifically, they said, the state needs to sit down with Ford officials and discuss ways to keep the plant open beyond the company?s current commitment of September 2007. State action could include adjusting tax payments or other policies that might help preserve the more than 2,400 jobs the Ford plant provides.

?We should put Kramer on a plane this afternoon to corporate headquarters,? Sen. Dick Cohen said, referring to Matt Kramer, commissioner of the state?s Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The legislators encouraged Pawlenty to appoint a bipartisan panel of business, labor, government and educational leaders who would make recommendations for the new Legislature to act on when it returns in January.

Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL-St. Paul, chair of the Jobs, Energy and Community Development Committee, said the legislators would push forward if the governor did not, but added, ?We need the governor?s leadership.?

?We expect he?ll do it,? said Sen. Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, chair of the Senate Taxes Committee. ?Why wouldn?t he?? Pawlenty?s office had no immediate response to the request.

"We need government policies that support these workers, not undermine them," said Sen. Ellen Anderson. UAW Local 879 President Rob McKenzie said, "The situation now is much more critical and much more serious." Union Advocate photos

State responded in 1995
Cohen, the DFL chair of the Senate Finance Committee whose St. Paul district includes the plant, called Ford the premier manufacturer in the state. ?It is incumbent on Gov. Pawlenty to jump into this.?

Cohen noted that in the mid-1990s, when there also was concern about the future of the plant, Gov. Arne Carlson ?immediately? convened a similar group. Within two months, Cohen said, the Legislature passed a $5 million bonding provision to help Ford and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities open a training facility at the St. Paul plant. ?I?m hoping the governor will act the same way Gov. Carlson did,? Cohen said.

?The situation now is much more critical and much more serious? than it was in 1995, said Rob McKenzie, president of United Auto Workers Local 879, which represents more than 1,900 of the Ford plant?s workers.

Layoffs prompt concerns about future
Production workers at the plant face at least 5 weeks of layoffs over the next three months because of declining sales of the Ford Ranger, which is manufactured in St. Paul. The legislators noted that current federal and state tax policies encourage businesses to purchase larger SUVs and trucks, which directly hurts sales of the smaller, more fuel-efficient Ranger.

?We need government policies that support these workers, not undermine them,? Anderson said.

Anderson said sales are declining even though the Twin Cities plant is recognized industrywide for its high quality and efficiency. ?It?s a great workforce. The plant has some real advantages,? she said during a Capitol news conference.

?We don?t have all the answers today. That is the purpose of this request. We need to be prepared to do whatever we need to do.?

Anderson said opportunities such as hybrid vehicles or flexible fuel technologies could be part of the Ford plant?s future. Those opportunities could also leverage federal incentives and respond to market trends, she suggested.

Sen. Dick Cohen: ?It is incumbent on Gov. Pawlenty to jump into this.? Union Advocate photos

Hanging on to good jobs
McKenzie noted that Ford has not announced any plans for the plant beyond 2007. ?We need new investment and a new product in the plant,? he said.

Mike Melville, bargaining chairman for Local 879, said jobs at the plant pay from $17 to $30 an hour, plus full benefits, including health insurance completely paid for by Ford. The plant has an annual payroll of more than $132 million.

Each week of layoffs is expected to affect at least 1,600 of the plant?s 1,900 union workers. Workers are eligible for state unemployment insurance. They also are likely to receive supplemental jobless benefits negotiated into their contract, McKenzie said.

Sen. Wes Skoglund, DFL-Minneapolis, said Ford has been a responsible employer in the state for nearly a century, providing high wages and good benefits without ever threatening to move if it didn?t get its way. ?We need to do everything we can to keep good employers like Ford in the state,? he said.

Pogemiller said specific, often small, changes in such areas as property taxes, payroll taxes or other state policies often can be of direct help to a company like Ford. ?There are not many new ideas. It?s just a matter of putting together the right package.?