Union workers at the Honeywell Aerospace factories in Green Island, N.Y. and South Bend, Ind. are set to return to work after agreeing to a new contract with management.
“We’re good to go, the lockout is over,” Todd Treber, president of the United Auto Workers Local 9, told the South Bend Tribune Sunday. The two sides reached a tentative agreement earlier in February, but did not approve the contract until Saturday.
Workers at the two plants have been locked out by the company ever since rejecting a five-year contract in May. The employees stopped receiving paychecks when the lockout began, and some relied on unemployment during the tense back-and-forth negotiations with management.
The agreement means that 320 workers at the Indiana plant, and 39 workers in upstate New York will return to work, where replacement employees have been filling in ever since the lockout.
The two sides met throughout the summer and into the fall, with management offering workers a five-year contract that would include wage increases in years one through four, a deal that workers rejected in November. (RELATED: Honeywell Employees Reject Latest Offer From Management, Lockout Continues)
Honeywell had argued throughout negotiations that its proposal included at least one year with a zero increase to pay, which matched a 2013 agreement in order to avoid layoffs following the Great Recession. The two sides finally reached a tentative agreement on Feb. 22.
The new proposal was approved Saturday, with some members agreeing to the deal after an exasperating 10-month ordeal. Honeywell workers at Green Island earn approximately $55,000 a year, according to the Times Union.
The workers, who make brakes and wheels for Boeing and military clients, voted to approve the new contract.
Honeywell spokesman Scott Sayres told reporters the company is working with union officials on plans for the workers’ return.
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