Pratt union leaders name job security, pensions as their top concerns in strike

Union leaders at Pratt & Whitney say their principal issues in the ongoing machinists’ strike are job security and pension guarantees.

Some 3,000 machinists in East Hartford and Middletown went on strike at midnight on Sunday, the first time the jet-engine maker has seen such a work stoppage since 2001.

Howard Huestis, president of IAM local lodge 1746 at Pratt’s East Hartford facility, said the negotiating committee met with the company’s representatives for a total of 11 days during April, and management would not address job security.

“They didn’t talk about it at all. They totally dismissed our demands and what our members wanted. It’s sickening,” he said.

He said the union’s concerns center on work on the geared-turbofan engine and the F-135 military engine that’s currently carried out in Connecticut.

“That stuff’s not secure, they can get rid of us at any time and this company has tried. What are good wages if we don’t have a job?” he said.

Walter Polchlopek has worked as an electronic technician at Pratt & Whitney for nine years. He joined a picket line outside the East Hartford headquarters Monday.

“They don’t want to guarantee that they’re going to continue making this product line here in Connecticut,” he said. “The entire world is buying the F-135 and we want to make it here.”

Polchlopek said he’s concerned about investments the company is making elsewhere, at plants in North Carolina, Oklahoma and Georgia.

“They’re not investing in Connecticut,” he said. “It’s that simple.”

The strikers were addressed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal Monday who briefly visited the picket line.

“You are on strike not just for yourselves — for decent fair pay and job security that you have earned — but for all working people,” he said. “This corporation can pay you more … they can afford to pay you fair, decent compensation, pensions that you’ve earned and job security that all workers should have.”

According to Pratt & Whitney, its best and final offer included annual wage increases between 3% and 4% over the next three years, as well as a $5,000 bonus for ratifying the contract. 

Pratt & Whitney, which is a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, said the contract offers an average base and overtime pay increase of $38,341 over three years, plus the signing bonus.

“Our message to union leaders throughout this thoughtful process has been simple: higher pay, better retirement savings, more days off and more flexibility.  Our local workforce is among the highest compensated in the region and the industry – our offer built on that foundation,” the company said in a statement issued Monday. “We have no immediate plans to resume negotiations at this time and we have contingency plans in place to maintain operations and to meet our customer commitments.”

Huestis said that the workers are prepared to stay out for as long as it takes to get their demands met, but he is also prepared to return to the negotiating table.

“We’re looking for respect, we’re looking for workplace guarantees, we’re looking to retire so we don’t have to scramble and rely on social security that may or may not be there,” he said. “My job is to negotiate a contract for our membership, it’s not to negotiate a strike. I would be ready to go back today if the company was serious.”