Teamsters Strike Sikorsky

The Teamsters local 1150, with a membership of 3,600, have commenced a strike against Sikorsky aircraft at the Stratford, Conn. and West Palm Beach plants.
The Teamsters turned down the company's last, best and final offer due to the sharp increase in insurance costs.

Workers with Local 1150 of the Teamsters overwhelmingly rejected the contract and voted Sunday in favor of the strike, the company's first since 1963. The union represents 3,500 workers at the helicopter-maker in Connecticut and 90 in Florida.

www.foxnews.com...

I was a member of the Teamsters local 1150 in 2001, when the company tried doing the same thing to us in Troy, Alabama. Were a smaller bunch at the Troy plant, around 100 members. It was a tough time; nobody thought lightly their vote to strike, and after 5 weeks on the picket line, it was obvious why we thought hard about the vote.
The corporations are after the worker. They want the worker to carry the financial brunt of working for the company. The days of when the worker was faithful to the company and the company took care of its family is long gone. The corporations see you and I as mere chattel property, to be used and then tossed.


[edit on 20-2-2006 by Thomas Crowne]

Good for them. The various unions should really be combining into a larger, national labor party. There's no reason why politics should be dominated by a specialized class of people good for nothing else. Workers, and academics, the process needs them badly IMO.

I think they might have made a mistake though, because it's not their employer's fault that healthcare costs are astronomical. These men have a legitimate complaint, but I think they're delivering it to the wrong adress.

American workers have a shared set of problems and goals, and they're not outrageous. Basically all we want is a living wage, and medical coverage for ourselves and our family, at costs that don't border on prohibitive.

Whatever happened to the viability of a single income family? Does the problem have to do more with wages than spending habits, or vice versa? I don't know, but something's gotta give.

It's really not so much to ask, but the healtcare industry has to be made to play ball. There's no room in my mind for 30%+ profit, or 30,000% as is the case with some scripts, when peoples' lives are on the line.

Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
The corporations see you and I as mere chattel property, to be used and then tossed.

I couldn't agree more.

Additionally, I believe that the politicians are bought and paid for by the corporate interests making the U.S. government a co-conspirator. But Im not willing to let the average American off the hook. It's Joe Dumbass that keeps voting these criminals into office.

None-the-less, I wish the strikers the best of luck.

WyrdeOne, the reason the Teamsters left the AFLofCIO was because they were corrupted by politics. It is imparative that these two not cross. The union must represent everyone, regardless of their political beliefs.

[edit on 20-2-2006 by Thomas Crowne]

Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
... the reason the Teamsters left the AFLofCIO was because they were corrupted by politics. It is imparative that these two not cross. The union must represent everyone, regardless of their political beliefs.

TC,

The International Laborers Union recently parted ways with them for similar issues. Locally, things were becoming very political amidst concerns of rising healthcare contracts.

If the issue were solely wage or retirement oriented, I would tend to be less supportive. However, the issue appears to be, again, exceedingly high healthcare costs to be borne by Joe Q. Public.

Years ago, our contract negotiations seemed focused more on wage and retirement issues, as medical was for the most part a given. Today, however, it's an entirely different situation. Which HMO? What Dental Plan? Presriptions? Well-Care? [what the hell is that].

I hope they hold out for their demands. They are not asking for much more than what's currently on the table.

You are going to see this issue nation wide very soon with the rising costs of health care. 2 years ago when we negotiated our contract with the hospital we fought tooth and nail to keep a free plan and proration of medical benifits based on work commitment. We won this round, but its going to get tougher and tougher with the next contract comming up soon (I actually was one of 12 out of 2200 nurses elected to meet with the hospital)

I wish them luck

This same problem, a looming strike, is also a threat to my family. Biggest problem is the health care costs, but retirement benefits are right in there too.

A strike is not taken on lightly. It is a real hardship for the workers and their families. Young families seem stretched to the maximum in this era of two working members of a family.

Here, read this. See what the corporation is trying to do to the ones who make their bonuses and pay the shareholders:

Teamsters Local 1150 began a strike against Sikorsky Aircraft on Monday, February 20th over the company's failure to negotiate over healthcare benefits. The company introduced a package that initially doubles members' up front contributions in the first year and triples them by the third year. This huge increase in the burden upon the members will pay for a plan that drastically reduces coverage. 80/20 insurance with stop losses of $3,500 per year for a family under the best scenario. Doctor visit co-pay increases and huge increases for prescriptions that do not count toward the stop losses or deductibles make this an unaffordable offer. The company introduced this package more than 6 months prior to negotiations and informed the union that it would never change. The union offered to keep the coverage the same as it was under the old contract by taking money out of wages or ratification bonuses to pay for the difference in plan costs. The company rejected this offer. The cost difference that the company is refusing to allow workers to pay?... 31 cents per hour!

The latest press release by the local 1150:
www.teamsters1150.org...

You want to see the hard-working men and women who build the finest aircraft in the U.S. military arsenal? Here they are:
www.teamsters1150.org...

I can't tell you how proud I am of these people. They are willing to stand up for their families while the corporation tries to squeeze the life out of them for bigger profits. The corporation would rather muzzle the oxen that grind their grain for them.

Sikorsky should be ashamed to even have a website at this time, knowing the highly skilled men and women who build their machines are outside on the picket line, fighting for their families.







Aircraft brought to you by the Teamsters, local 1150:
www.teamsters1150.org...