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Furloughs At Crane To End

Last updated on Wednesday, August 7, 2013

(CRANE) - Crane workers received notice that the furlough is ending August 17.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel released a memo Tuesday stating the Pentagon has been working at reducing the number of furlough days.

Officials found the necessary $900 million in savings and if the Pentagon could save $500 million the days would be cut from 11 to six ending the furlough on August 17.

Crane workers are currently in their fifth week of furlough, taking every Friday off until the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, but now that will end on August 17.

The furlough affected about 3,800 workers at Crane and another 650,000 across the county.

Crane is the third-largest employer in southern Indiana and one of the largest naval installations in the world.

"We welcome the news from the Secretary of Defense and we are relieved that our valuable workforce will not have to go through the hardship of the full number of furlough days," says Thomas Peske, public affairs officer with Crane Army Ammunition Activity Crane.

Senator Dan Coats believes Washington should have focus on cutting the hundreds of duplicative and inefficient program within the federal government, rather than furlough hardworking Hoosiers at Crane and military technicians of the Indiana National Guard in the first place.

He was glad the furlough was ending.

The future still is not clear, because the Pentagon is slated for a $52 billion budget cut in 2014. Officials have not said how those cuts will be made.

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