On February 2, our brothers and sisters at Honeywell voted on a four-year contract that includes a 7.5 percent wage increase over the term of the agreement and a $5.50 pension increase. The new contract, which was ratified by 61 percent of the bargaining unit, affects 1,050 Honeywell workers who are members of Teamsters Local 1145.
Joseph Witzmann, secretary-treasurer of Local 1145, said:
This was a tough round of negotiations. The company proposed cutting 135 jobs, which we were able to save in negotiations. The new agreement represents improvements in wages, pensions and shift differentials.The contract also requires the company to pay out up to 160 hours of unused vacation time, reimbursements that it had originally insisted it would hold until workers’ retirement.
Witzmann said it was the best agreement they could hope for:
Negotiations took place over four weeks and we bargained to the very last deadline in order to win the best contract for the hardworking Teamsters that have made Honeywell the successful company that it is.Local 1145 President Nancy Sims said the International provided invaluable support and credited Joint Council 32 for helping during negotiations:
Given the difficult economic times we’re in, we are happy with the improvements we were able to negotiate in this new contract.
I thank International Trustee Joe Dwyer, the Strategic Research Department and Economics and Contracts for their support in this effort.
