EAST HARTFORD, CONN. – Three thousand machinists on strike at Pratt & Whitney are holding firm in their second week on the picket line against the billionaire aerospace corporation. IAM Locals 700 in Middletown and 1746 in East Hartford are on the picket line 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
Bryan Briant, national International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) president, said it all when he visited the East Hartford picket in the pouring rain. “How long are we willing to fight? Forever!” The workers boomed back, “Forever.”
While the company, now owned by TRX, claims to have made a great offer, the workers, who produce jet engines, voted to go on strike because the company failed to put significant job security, pensions, health care or wages that keep up with inflation on the table.
Emboldened by the union busting Trump administration, the company says they will continue operations during the strike, with no announced plans to come back to the bargaining table.
Following a merger in 2020, Pratt & Whitney is a subsidiary of the profitable RTX corporation. In 2023 RTX opened a new Pratt & Whitney turbine airfoil production plant in Ashville North Carolina which is not unionized.
“To take our work and go there,” Howie Huestis, President of IAM Local 1746. said as the strike began. “They just announced another $285 million that they are buying more machinery down there. I got 800 members that they could take their work.”
While the company says they are committed to maintaining facilities in Connecticut, they did not agree to expand existing job protections language. “We need job security, and we need it NOW,” said a post from the picket line by the union.
During his visit to the picket lines in East Hartford and Middletown, president Briant called on the company to negotiate a fair contract.
“Get back to the table”
“Pratt & Whitney, get back to the table, give our members a fair contract. A fair contract that not only they have earned but they deserve,” he said.
“The machinists union isn’t asking for much. They’re asking for exactly what they deserve,” Connecticut AFL CIO president Ed Hawthorn told the workers. “Pratt & Whitney has the money. Their profits are in the billions, and their profits last quarter were 41% higher than they were last year,” he said.
The Connecticut AFL CIO jumped in immediately to alert union members across the state that their sisters and brothers in East Hartford and Middletown were on strike. The solidarity keeps growing with picket line support from many unions including AFSCME, communications workers, teachers and retirees.
A delegation from marine draftsmen UAW Local 571 came, taking time from their own negotiations with Electric Boat as their May 19 strike deadline looms.
Solidarity has also come from the surrounding communities. People in town have contributed food and have shown support by beeping their horns as they go by. Some even make it a point to circle around and do it again, reported one East Hartford resident.
The picket line is also a center of organizing as the state legislature nears the end of session. The number one priority for the labor movement is passage of SB 8 to allow unemployment insurance for workers on strike after two weeks.
When Governor Lamont, who vetoed the unemployment insurance for striking workers bill last year, visited the picket line he was met with a sea of “Pass SB 8” stickers. SB 8 is seen as a factor that could convince corporations to bargain in good faith rather than force a strike.
Many elected officials have come and walked the picket line in solidarity including state legislators, local officials and the entire Congressional delegation.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a co-sponsor of the PRO Act that aims to strengthen workers’ right to unionize and collectively bargain for better wages, working conditions and job security, told the workers in East Hartford and in Middletown that their strike is of national importance saying “ What is at stake here is the strength of our unions and our working people all around the country. Pratt – you can afford to treat your workers fairly.”
The machinists at Pratt & Whitney took into account the huge profits they have generated for the company and the refusal of the company to meet the workers’ needs. They voted to strike saying “enough is enough” to corporate greed as workers across the country are standing up for dignity and respect.
“It is absolutely shameful — shameful — that Pratt & Whitney has chosen to put all of you out on the street,” said IAM President Brian Bryant. “It’s not because of our membership that works with Pratt & Whitney. It’s because of this corporation trying to take advantage of its workers and the hard work they do and the products they build for this company.”
The last two strikes were in 1985 and 2001. Each lasted two weeks. The 24-hour picket lines are at 1 Aircraft Road in Middletown and at Five locations in East Hartford: Silver Lane, Willow St, Brewer St, Enson St and the IAM 1746 union hall.
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