Pratt & Whitney workers entering third week of strike while preparing to lose health care

Yahoo

18-05-2025

As the historic Pratt & Whitney strike enters its third week, the union president called workers 'organized and determined' despite the fact that they will soon lose access to their health care plans.
The union members began picketing in East Hartford and Middletown on May 5, a day after overwhelmingly rejecting the jet-engine maker's final contract offer and setting up a historic bargaining showdown not seen at the company in decades. The contract dispute covers about 3,000 hourly workers and members of IAM Local 700 and Local 1746.
As the strike enters its third week, Wayne McCarthy, president of IAM Union Local 700, said workers will not backing down until they receive job security and a fair contract.
Workers are set to lose their health care coverage on Monday, a blow that McCarthy acknowledged would be hard on families. But McCarthy noted that Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, reached out to him on Saturday and announced that workers will be eligible to apply for health care coverage under Access Health CT, the state's health insurance marketplace.
'Our state officials have been tremendous and very helpful,' McCarthy said. 'We are now eligible to get better coverage than COBRA from Access Health. This is very helpful for us ,and we plan on holding an information Zoom call on the 20th and an enrollment period starting on the 21st. Later in the week, we will be holding another information session in Middletown.'
Pete Caruso, a union hall monitor with IAM Union Local 700, said the announcement that workers can now access the state's health insurance marketplace is 'welcome news' after days of worrying over the loss of health coverage.
'This is a massive support for us, it's one less thing we have to worry about' Caruso said. 'We're already concerned about our jobs and careers, so one less thing to worry about is really huge for us. So it's good news all the way around. We have had tremendous support from our local officials.'
McCarthy has called the strike 'ultra modern' in its approach. He said workers are using social media and group chats to organize and distribute information. He said technology has allowed workers to stay united and combat misinformation. The Union Local 700 president said he has received compliments from retired workers on how organized this strike has been entering its third week.
'I have retirees who come down to the line and say they have never seen a group this united and focused in their life,' McCarthy said. 'These are people that worked at Pratt for 40-plus years. They went through the 1985 strike and the 2001 strike, and everyone is just amazed at the sense of unity here in 2025.'
But despite successes, McCarthy acknowledges that some workers may begin to feel the pain of not receiving a paycheck. The company has told employees that workers will forfeit their benefits and pay while striking. Since receiving that letter, employees say the company has not sent out any communications. The last paycheck for many workers was on May 8.
'Some people may be reaching a point where they have a financial concern, so we communicated out yesterday that we have the ability to take a loan out of our 401K,' McCarthy said. 'The payments are suspended until the strike is over. If the strike ends soon, workers can just send the money back. There's no tax penalty and no payment required until we return to work. Some people are now using this option to cover bills or expenses.'
Union members say the biggest issues separating them are employment security, marked by worries about jobs migrating to areas of the country where it is cheaper to do business; pension and retirement benefits; and concerns about wages keeping up with inflation.
Some picketing workers said the erosion in health benefits, marked by higher premiums and deductibles, essentially erased the pay increases offered by the company. According to Pratt, the proposed pay increase was a general wage increase of 4% immediately, 3.5% in 2026 and 3% in 2027.
Despite some hardships caused by the lack of pay and benefits, Caruso said workers 'remain united as ever' and determined to secure long lasting job security and a fair contract for workers.
Pratt & Whitney launches new missive on CT strike. Company says it's 'committed to this state'
'There is a lot of passion right now, the general consensus we are all saying to the company is 'see you June' or at least until after Memorial Day,' Caruso said.
'Between the age group that was already ready to retire and a bunch of the young guys, everyone is fairly in line with this. A lot of our workers already had planned for this. We don't know exactly what's gong to happen, but we're very much on the same page.'
Pratt & Whitney told the Courant they have no new updates but look forward to resuming negotiations.
'Our local workforce is among the highest compensated in the region and the industry — our offer built on that foundation. We look forward to resuming negotiations for a mutually beneficial new contract that continues to secure these high paying, high-skilled manufacturing jobs here in Connecticut,' a spokesperson with Pratt & Whitney told the Courant.
Stephen Underwood can be reached at [e-mail].