Conn. union ratifies Pratt Whitney contract
AP - Sun Dec 05, 3:12PM CST
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WALLINGFORD, Conn. (AP) — Machinists overwhelmingly ratified a new contract Sunday with jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney that allows the company to shut two plants it has targeted for more than a year while preserving jobs insisted on by the union.
Workers voted 2,609-198 to accept the pact with the subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., ending a battle that began in September 2009 when the company announced it would shut its engine repair plants. Earlier in the week, angry workers massed at a union rally, wearing stickers that said "strike," signaling their readiness to walk if the company insisted on deep job cuts.
The three-year contract allows the company to close its plants in Cheshire and East Hartford and shift hundreds of jobs to Columbus, Ga., Singapore and Japan. Workers will be induced to retire with a $20,000 buyout package and other workers will be transferred to Pratt & Whitney's two remaining plants in Connecticut. The East Hartford-based company also will add 75 jobs to handle military orders for the F-135 engine.
James Parent, chief negotiator at the International Association of Machinists in Connecticut, said the contract protects union members.
"We were unable to save the plants, but in our opinion the language will save the workers," he said.
Pratt & Whitney called it a "very good contract" that gives it flexibility to run its business.
Employees will receive a 3 percent wage increase immediately and 2.5 percent increases in December 2011 and December 2012. Employees also will receive a one-time $2,000 ratification bonus and a pension increase.
The company won its key demand to close the two plants, which it expects to do over the next year. It insisted on the shutdowns to cut costs as it faces fierce competition.
The two sides agreed to a voluntary buyout for up to 500 employees who will receive a one-time $20,000 payment, severance of one-week's pay for each year of service and medical insurance for a year.
Pratt & Whitney said it will reassign employees affected by the closings and promised not to lay off those who cannot be placed elsewhere before July 1, 2011.
The battle over job security has been raging for years. Pratt & Whitney's 3,700 employees has fallen by 2,000 over 10 years as the company sliced employment to reduce costs.
In the most recent fight, the Machinists accused the company of failing to make all reasonable efforts to keep jobs in Connecticut as required by the previous contract. The union won in federal court to block the company's move to shut the plants. But workers knew from the start they would have to fight all over again to negotiate job security provisions in the new contract.
George Cowles, a mechanic at the Cheshire plant, said he was surprised at the contract terms and voted to accept the agreement.
"It was a lot better than I thought," he said. "It's a big, big burden off our shoulders. It's been over a year since we've had this big cloud over our heads."
Mark Bernier, a jet engine mechanic at Cheshire, said the contract fell short and he voted against it.
"It's been an ongoing issue since the early 90s when we took concessions for the company," he said. "We took a wage freeze and they never gave us the concessions back that we made for them to keep the work in Connecticut."
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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