Employees at airplane engine maker Pratt & Whitney in Middletown and East Hartford voted to go on strike at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
Members of the Machinist (IAM) Locals 700 and 1746 will strike at both locations beginning midnight.
Michael Lamoureux, head of the strike committee for Middletown employees, told News 12 that 80% of the 2,100 employees who attended the contract ratification voted to reject the contract.
Of those 2,100 employees, 77% voted to go on strike.
The union says top issues include general wage increases, retirement security, rising health insurance costs and job security. The union represents aerospace workers who build, maintain and test aircraft engines that are used for commercial flights and military jets.
Lamoureux says in the last few contracts, Pratt & Whitney has attempted to take away pensions from employees and did not offer any language regarding job security.
In a statement, Wayne McCarthy, President of IAM Local 700 said, "For months, we have negotiated in good faith with Pratt & Whitney in hopes of reaching a fair contract that reflects the billions in profits our members make for the company. The last offer by Pratt was an insult to the machinists who make the best jet engines in the world."
Local 700 represents 1,400 members at the Middletown plant. Local 1746 represents over 1,600 members employed in East Hartford.
Members said the vote comes after the company's decision in January to "force workers to take unpaid furlough days despite over $100 billion in back orders."
"This strike is about dignity, respect, job security and protecting middle-class jobs in Connecticut. Workers at Pratt & Whitney in Florida saw larger wage increases than they offered here. We are ready to hold the line for as long as it takes to secure a contract that recognizes the value we create every single day for the company." said Howie Huestis, President of IAM Local 1746
In a statement, the company said, "Pratt & Whitney's offer competitively compensates our workforce while ensuring P&W can grow in an increasingly competitive marketplace, creating ongoing economic opportunity in the state of Connecticut. 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. 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."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal acknowledged he stands with the machinists and believes they deserve to have based workplace fairness.
"Workers need long term certainty in jobs and income to make the American dream real," he said in a statement. "Our state's prosperity and progress depends on proper, fair treatment of workers, especially at Pratt where their products are critical to our national defense."
Gov. Ned Lamont and Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz released a joint statement regarding the vote to strike:
“Pratt and Whitney is a world leader in manufacturing aircraft engines because of their amazing workers, who are critical to the success of our nation’s manufacturing future. We strongly encourage the company’s leadership and the machinists union to come together to reach a fair deal that is negotiated in good faith.”
