Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft and the Teamsters may soon reach a deal on a new contract for the helicopter maker’s nearly 6,000 workers, a union official said.
Rocco Calo, secretary-treasurer of Local 1150 in Stratford, said the company and union are near agreement on pay and benefits in a tentative agreement scheduled for a vote Sunday by union members. Ratification by the workers would avoid a strike that shut Sikorsky for six weeks in 2006.
The strike three years ago, the first at Sikorsky in Connecticut in 43 years, followed a dispute over health care costs and workers’ rising contributions to pay for health insurance. The strike ended when union members narrowly approved a contract accepting terms similar to what they had earlier rejected.
Sikorsky makes the Army’s workhorse Black Hawk, used for air assault and medical evacuation, as well as other helicopters. The company is benefiting from strong military sales and doing well in a brutal recession. Sikorsky posted a 28 percent increase in profit last year over 2007 and has a $13 billion backlog that could keep workers busy this year.
Sikorsky says it expects to deliver between 230 and 240 helicopters this year, up from 204 in 2008, due mainly to military sales.
“We’re in a good spot,” Calo said. “Hopefully, we’ll have a contract on the 15th.”
Calo did not provide details on wage and benefit proposals, but said, “I’m kind of pleased at this point we’re able to make some improvements in health care.”
Paul Jackson, a spokesman for Sikorsky, would not comment on the negotiations.
Greg Hayes, chief financial officer for United Technologies Corp., Sikorsky’s parent, told investor analysts last month that officials are “cautiously optimistic” the two sides will agree to a contract. (AP)
