Local 1150 Teamsters will gather in Wallingford at the old Oakdale Theatre on Sunday to vote whether to accept a new contract with Sikorsky Aircraft of Stratford or go on strike for the first time in more than 40 years.

But some union members said they'd be surprised if there is a strike and that most of the talk is a negotiating tactic.

The sides have been negotiating since December, with each agreeing to a media blackout. Ed Steadham, a Sikorsky spokesman, said the blackout was in effect Friday.

The union represents 3,500 Connecticut workers and about 90 workers in Florida who build helicopters. The Florida workers will also vote on Sunday. Should they reject the contract, they would be on strike by 12:01 Monday morning. However, the union may choose to return to the bargaining table and set a new strike deadline.

The only record of Local 1150 going on strike at the Stratford plant is from 1963.

For the past two months, speculation has run high that the Teamsters might strike over proposals that would force them to cover 20 percent of their medical benefits and a plan to have them work four 10-hour days per week. Increasing pension benefits is also a hot topic among members, as are reports that some Connecticut jobs will be heading to Alabama and Florida. None of the proposals have been confirmed, which was frustrating for some union members and their families.

Several workers complained that they don't have enough details

Advertisement
about the contract heading into the vote. They said it doesn't seem right that the day they show up to vote will be the first time they get to see the contract.

"You wouldn't buy a house or a car like that," one member said. "They're blacking out their own people. What is this, communist Russia?"

The man said he was instructed by the union not to speak to the press.

Calls to Local 1150 were not returned. The union's receptionist said no one at the union hall was allowed to answer questions on Friday, and anyone who could answer questions was involved in negotiations. Union leaders said on the local's Web site that they will negotiate up to the last minute.

Not allowing union members to read the contract before voting isn't uncommon, according to Jack Haskell, of labor relations consultant Adams, Nash, Haskell & Sheridan. He agreed with those complaining that it would be difficult to make an informed decision on a contract in that little time.

Haskell said union contracts can be more than 100 pages.

Aside from the 1963 strike, which was just four years after workers voted to organize, there was a walkout by more than 1,000 workers in 2002 during contract negotiations. That was not an official strike, but rather an independent action by workers.

Local 1150 has represented workers at other factories that went on strike more recently in Connecticut, including in 1987, when Local 1150 workers at Bridgeport Machines went on strike for 18 weeks. As many as 70 of those workers were fired, and four months after the strike ended, Local 1150 and the workers parted ways.

Stratford Mayor James Miron said he's taking seriously the talk of a strike, but hopes it doesn't happen because it will strain families and the community.

"There are serious repercussions for anyone who decides to go on strike," Miron said, because families have to come up with mortgage payments and meet other financial obligations.

It could also stretch the police department's resources because patrols would have to be set up at picketing sites. But Miron said he's confident the police will be able to handle it, and that the Sikorsky workers will voice their protests within the bounds of the laws.

Local 1150's lack of recent strike experience might also hurt it if it does walk out, because Stephen Finger, Sikorsky's president, was the head of the military engine division of Pratt & Whitney when machinists went on a 12-day strike in 2001.

Some Pratt union workers complained after the strike that they didn't get anything by their action and ended up ratifying almost the identical contract they initially rejected.

Rob Varnon, who covers business, can be reached at 330-6216.

Blog JOIN THE CONVERSATION