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Fenn Workers Fight to End Lockout As U.S. Prepares for War
The famed Black Hawk helicopter has carried thousands of troops into combat and rescued hundreds more in virtually every U.S. military conflict since the Vietnam War. But with American lives quite possibly on the line once again as tensions build with Iraq, a manufacturer of critical components for the Black Hawk and other military helicopters is using scab labor to produce those parts while locking out IUE-CWA members.
CWA is rolling out a major campaign on behalf of the 116 members of Local 81266 in Newington, Conn., locked out from their jobs by Fenn Manufacturing.
National Defense Jobs
Fenn makes rotor parts and other critical components for Sikorsky's Black Hawk and Super Stallion helicopters, the McDonnell Douglas Apache and the Boeing Chinook.
The workers, approaching or past age 50 with at least 20 years' seniority, are the only crew in America fully trained in the work they do. They take pride in providing the margin of safety for America's soldiers. They know that mistakes can be deadly.
Says Ray Kotulski, president of IUE-CWA Local 81266, "The parts we make have extremely close tolerances and must fit exactly. The lives of America's service men and women depend upon the safety of these helicopters."
Facing demands for dramatic changes in work rules, unlimited managerial rights to hire out of the bargaining unit and cancellation of all previous letters of understanding between union and management, the Local 81266 members went on strike July 9.
Fenn converted the strike to a lockout in October when the strikers offered to return to work under their expired contract while continuing negotiations. Despite record profits in 2001, the company refused the offer, preferring to continue to run with about 30 replacement workers to machine the rotor heads, gears and housings required by the Defense Department.
Local Effort Goes National
The state's U.S. senators and congressional delegation have written to Fenn's parent company, SPX Corp., calling upon Fenn to resume negotiations. Local 81266 members have successfully reached out to local elected officials and the community for support and have met with students and professors at Central Connecticut State College in nearby New Britain, who have committed to phone banking and leafleting on the workers' behalf.
Now, workers are taking their cause on the road, enlisting the support of CWA districts and locals, Jobs with Justice, other unions, and congressional and community leaders.
Addressing about 100 workers at a meeting on Dec. 3, CWA District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino announced the start of a campaign aimed not only at Fenn but also at SPX, a Fortune 500 company and global corporation with nearly 80 locations in the United States. SPX, which owns Fenn, employs 23,000 workers worldwide.
CWA will purchase radio and print ads in the Northeast, telling the Fenn workers' story. The campaign will send a busload of strikers to talk to union workers at other SPX plants about Fenn's union-busting tactics and to enlist their support.
"Replacing these highly skilled workers with scab labor - especially where safety is an issue - should be of concern to the government and, indeed, to everyone," Mancino said. "If this is what Fenn is moving toward, we're certainly going to do everything we can to make it uncomfortable for them."
Said IUE-CWA President Ed Fire, "Fenn Manufacturing has become the front line in our fight to preserve union contracts in the manufacturing sector. This has become a national battle for jobs with justice."
March to the South
As the CWA News went to press in mid-December, about 60 locked-out Fenn workers had plans for informational picketing outside a Sikorsky plant in Stratford, Conn., with the support of CWA Local 1298, and to meet with a Teamsters bargaining unit that works for Sikorsky.
"Since SPX acquired Fenn in 2001, it has made clear its intention of eliminating the union's role at the Newington plant. Using scab labor puts quality in play, and the company's demands would destroy the union as a legitimate bargaining agent," said IUE-CWA District 3 President Sal Ingrassia.
Fenn wants the unlimited right to hire from the street, to move experienced workers into jobs for up to a month at a time without bidding, and assign new hires work that may be beyond their abilities. The company wants to change work rules and benefits without any input from the union. It also wants unilateral ability to modify retiree benefits and to totally exclude retirement security for all future employees.
Other Fenn demands would put workers' safety at risk by eliminating minimum crew size. Among more than a dozen memorandums of understanding the company has canceled is one protecting workers from being forced to work on unsafe machines.
Taking It to the Top
The Fenn workers are scheduled to carry their message in January, first to a Boeing plant and Machinists bargaining unit in Philadelphia, then, with support from CWA District 3 and Local 3676, to SPX headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.
"We want to return to work with a fair contract because union workers have been doing this job for 50 years," Kotulski said. "We have families, we want to make a decent living and contribute to society. We built Fenn Manufacturing, and we have a lot of pride in what we do."
CWA is rolling out a major campaign on behalf of the 116 members of Local 81266 in Newington, Conn., locked out from their jobs by Fenn Manufacturing.
National Defense Jobs
Fenn makes rotor parts and other critical components for Sikorsky's Black Hawk and Super Stallion helicopters, the McDonnell Douglas Apache and the Boeing Chinook.
The workers, approaching or past age 50 with at least 20 years' seniority, are the only crew in America fully trained in the work they do. They take pride in providing the margin of safety for America's soldiers. They know that mistakes can be deadly.
Says Ray Kotulski, president of IUE-CWA Local 81266, "The parts we make have extremely close tolerances and must fit exactly. The lives of America's service men and women depend upon the safety of these helicopters."
Facing demands for dramatic changes in work rules, unlimited managerial rights to hire out of the bargaining unit and cancellation of all previous letters of understanding between union and management, the Local 81266 members went on strike July 9.
Fenn converted the strike to a lockout in October when the strikers offered to return to work under their expired contract while continuing negotiations. Despite record profits in 2001, the company refused the offer, preferring to continue to run with about 30 replacement workers to machine the rotor heads, gears and housings required by the Defense Department.
Local Effort Goes National
The state's U.S. senators and congressional delegation have written to Fenn's parent company, SPX Corp., calling upon Fenn to resume negotiations. Local 81266 members have successfully reached out to local elected officials and the community for support and have met with students and professors at Central Connecticut State College in nearby New Britain, who have committed to phone banking and leafleting on the workers' behalf.
Now, workers are taking their cause on the road, enlisting the support of CWA districts and locals, Jobs with Justice, other unions, and congressional and community leaders.
Addressing about 100 workers at a meeting on Dec. 3, CWA District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino announced the start of a campaign aimed not only at Fenn but also at SPX, a Fortune 500 company and global corporation with nearly 80 locations in the United States. SPX, which owns Fenn, employs 23,000 workers worldwide.
CWA will purchase radio and print ads in the Northeast, telling the Fenn workers' story. The campaign will send a busload of strikers to talk to union workers at other SPX plants about Fenn's union-busting tactics and to enlist their support.
"Replacing these highly skilled workers with scab labor - especially where safety is an issue - should be of concern to the government and, indeed, to everyone," Mancino said. "If this is what Fenn is moving toward, we're certainly going to do everything we can to make it uncomfortable for them."
Said IUE-CWA President Ed Fire, "Fenn Manufacturing has become the front line in our fight to preserve union contracts in the manufacturing sector. This has become a national battle for jobs with justice."
March to the South
As the CWA News went to press in mid-December, about 60 locked-out Fenn workers had plans for informational picketing outside a Sikorsky plant in Stratford, Conn., with the support of CWA Local 1298, and to meet with a Teamsters bargaining unit that works for Sikorsky.
"Since SPX acquired Fenn in 2001, it has made clear its intention of eliminating the union's role at the Newington plant. Using scab labor puts quality in play, and the company's demands would destroy the union as a legitimate bargaining agent," said IUE-CWA District 3 President Sal Ingrassia.
Fenn wants the unlimited right to hire from the street, to move experienced workers into jobs for up to a month at a time without bidding, and assign new hires work that may be beyond their abilities. The company wants to change work rules and benefits without any input from the union. It also wants unilateral ability to modify retiree benefits and to totally exclude retirement security for all future employees.
Other Fenn demands would put workers' safety at risk by eliminating minimum crew size. Among more than a dozen memorandums of understanding the company has canceled is one protecting workers from being forced to work on unsafe machines.
Taking It to the Top
The Fenn workers are scheduled to carry their message in January, first to a Boeing plant and Machinists bargaining unit in Philadelphia, then, with support from CWA District 3 and Local 3676, to SPX headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.
"We want to return to work with a fair contract because union workers have been doing this job for 50 years," Kotulski said. "We have families, we want to make a decent living and contribute to society. We built Fenn Manufacturing, and we have a lot of pride in what we do."