Negotiations ended last night at the Honeywell Metropolis Plant with Honeywell presenting its “last best and final offer,” but union representatives say there’s more negotiation to be done.
Honeywell representative Peter Dalpe says the company has presented a six-year contract which includes 2 percent wage increases each year, which adds up to around 12.6 percent over the life of the contract. Health care and pension benefits remain the same under the new offer.
United Steelworkers Local 7-669 representative John Paul Smith says the proposal doesn’t address the union’s concerns over job security, healthcare, health and safety, and employee fairness, among other issues.
Negotiations have been contentious from the beginning with a dispute on the first day over whether representatives could wear union stickers. Before contract talks concluded yesterday, salaried and contract workers were bused to the plant in preparation for a work stoppage*, which was perceived by union representatives as an intimidation tactic.
The current agreement expires today. The last Honeywell and union contract negotiation began in 2010 and lasted more than a year, with several workers taking other jobs during the work stoppage.
*WKMS mistakenly reported earlier today that salaried/contract workers were allowed in negotiations.
