Windsor Locks-based Hamilton Sundstrand laid off 11 salaried employees last week, according to workers and a company official.
In addition, the company is in talks with the Machinists union about a voluntary separation package aimed at paring down its hourly worker payroll, according to a union official.
The cutbacks were not related to any single factor, Hamilton spokesman Dan Coulom said.
“A continued slowdown in work load and the general economic downturn require Hamilton Sundstrand to make work force adjustments to remain competitive,” Coulom said. He declined to identify specific departments where the layoffs occurred.
But workers who said they have direct knowledge of the action characterized one of those laid off as a “facility manager,” adding the cuts included some supervisors and some clerical workers.
Union Negotiations
Hamilton was among hundreds of suppliers that were affected by the recent strike at The Boeing Co. Hamilton makes millions of dollars worth of equipment for a variety of Boeing planes, including the company’s new 787 “Dreamliner,” which also has experienced a series of delays in the run-up to production.
As for the hourly workers’ buyout negotiations, Coulom said that he could neither confirm nor deny the voluntary separation package talks with the union, saying only that the company is “constantly evaluating” its staffing needs.
But Mark Hebert, president of Machinists union Local 743 — which represents the Windsor Locks plant’s roughly 1,200 hourly workers — said the union and company are in talks about “an enhanced early retirement package for the bargaining unit” in an effort to avoid any hourly involuntary layoffs.
“If enough senior workers take the package then we don’t expect any (involuntary) cuts,” Hebert said. “They are looking for at least 50” volunteers to sign up for the buyout, he said.
“We should know more by the end of next week,” he added.
Hamilton’s Machinists union members work under a three-year contract approved in 2007, which expires in 2010. The pact increased union members’ wages by 10.8 percent over three years, and provided an increase in the pension plan, giving future retired workers $57 per month for each year of service. The workers also received a $3,000 cash bonus.
