Hundreds of union members will return to work on Wednesday after a vote on a contract agreement with jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney passed.
The union members voted on the contract agreement at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford on Tuesday. It passed 74%, according to members.
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WATCH HEREThe company announced Friday that it reached a tentative agreement with the union representing about 3,000 machinists in Connecticut who've been on strike since May 4 demanding improved job security and better wages, retirement benefits and health care coverage. Pratt & Whitney said the tentative agreement, reached after the two sides resumed talks on Thursday, addresses “key points of interest among union members." It did not provide details.
The new contract includes a 6% wage increase in the first year, followed by a 3.5% increase in 2026, and a 3% increase in both 2027 and 2028, according to the IAM.
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SIGN UP It also secures continued operations in Pratt & Whitney's East Hartford and Middletown facilities through 2029. Union members had demanded that no work would be moved out of Connecticut.
The contract also includes increases in pension payments and company contributions to employee savings plans.
Many union members said they look forward to getting back to work.
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“I’m very happy that we’re going back to work. We all have families to take care of, we’ve got bills, mortgages, you know, kids in college and things of that nature, and I’m excited and I’m ready," Charlise Cousins said. "Three weeks is a long time to be out of work.”
Though nearly two-thirds of the members voted to accept the new contract, not everyone was happy with what the company offered.
“Seventy-four percent accepted the contract. I’m upset. I’m upset," said Bob Johnson, a union official. "This is not a fair deal. Corporate greed is horrible. It’s horrible. Our families will not be able to survive on what they pay us. They make billions and billions of dollars in profits and they don’t pay their workers. It’s horrible."
Union members began picketing at Pratt's manufacturing locations in East Hartford and Middletown on May 5 after the union members voted to approve their first strike since 2001.
The company, a subsidiary of Arlington, Virginia-based RTX Corp., had called its earlier wage and retirement proposal competitive, and said its workforce is among the most highly compensated in the region and industry.
Pratt & Whitney makes engines for commercial and military jets, including the GTF line for Airbus commercial jets and the F135 for the military’s F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft fleet.
