Sikorsky union wins 3 percent annual increases in pay

In advance of a contract expiration early next year, Sikorsky Aircraft workers ratified a new five-year contract covering the Lockheed Martin subsidiary’s main helicopter manufacturing plant in Stratford, as well as a facility in Florida.

More than 1,900 Connecticut members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 1150 voted on the contract, with less than 70 opposing the deal. Sikorsky indicated the deal covers more than 3,100 employees in Stratford, Shelton and Bridgeport, as well as 700 people in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Sikorsky employs 7,730 people in Connecticut today, of 13,500 globally.

The contract marks the first major new labor agreement under Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin, which spent $9 billion in November 2015 to acquire Sikorsky from Farmington-based United Technologies. Last year, Sikorsky’s union approved concessions as part of Lockheed Martin’s negotiations with the state of Connecticut for $220 million in state aid to keep Sikorsky’s headquarters in Stratford.

“The negotiating teams for both the company and the union worked hard to reach an agreement acceptable to both sides,” said Jay Bennett, vice president of human resources for Sikorsky, in a written statement.

Teamsters 1150 Secretary-Treasurer Rocco Calo could not be reached immediately Monday for comment, with members crediting him in social media posts for leading the negotiations.

Sikorsky’s labor contract covers the gamut, from compensation and benefits to the processes through which union members can file any grievances over working conditions. Local 1150 received Lockheed Martin’s “last, best offer” on Friday, which included wage increases of 3 percent annually over the five years of the deal, not including periodic changes calculated from formulas estimating the cost of living.

Workers will also receive a signing bonus of $10,000 paid in two installments, the first in January and the second in 2021. In 2018, employees age 55 or older can choose one of two early retirement packages that award one week’s pay for every year of employment, plus one-time bonuses of $5,000 or $20,000 and with one or two years of medical insurance coverage.

Employees will pay $124 or $101 weekly for a standard family health insurance plan, at the upper end equating to $6,400 for the year and representing 20 percent of the company’s cost, with Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin picking up the balance.

Lower-premium health plans are available for $20, $43 or $76 weekly that carry maximum deductibles starting at $6,000 before claims kick in for care from physicians authorized under the plans, and more than triple that amount for out-of-network care. The new agreement stipulates that beginning in 2023 new hires will be able to choose a high-deductible plan only.

Health care costs were a significant factor in Sikorsky workers going on strike for several weeks in early 2006, with the U.S. Department of Defense later warning United Technologies on the quality of its production as the company attempted to keep pace on orders with remaining staff not on the picket line. To this day, Local 1150 maintains an online “Wall of Shame” pointing the finger at workers who broke ranks to go back on the job.

Includes prior reporting by Amanda Cuda.

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