Esty visits concerned workers at Cheshire manufacturer

CHESHIRE >> Fifth District Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty heard from a group of worried workers Thursday when she visited the Industrial Heater Corp.

Many among the company’s 48-person work force expressed concern that the U.S. House of Representatives is more interested in petty political bickering than it is in taking care of pressing issues, such as taking steps to keep manufacturing jobs from being moved oversees.

“I’m not just worried for me, I’m worried for my granddaughter,” said Paul Flint, a Torrington resident who is the plant’s production manager.

Company president Tad McGwire also told Esty that the so-called Obamacare health care reforms have driven up costs for the company and for his employees.

“Some of our employees have seen their premiums go down by 20 percent, but others have seen their rates increase by 60 percent,” McGwire told Esty. “And we have 48 people working for us now; if our employment levels go over 50, it’s a huge increase for use because we get grouped in with larger companies. So it’s a real barricade to growth.”

Esty reassured McGwire and his employees that despite all of the publicity given to the budget battles in Washington that shut much of the federal government down for 16 days this fall, some progress is being made.

“What gets covered by television and radio is the loudest voices and that there is a lot of fighting,” the Democratic lawmaker said. “There’s more going on than you know. Not as much as there should be, though.”