Publication date: 08-December-2003 
Source:The Hartford Courant

Despite frustration over cuts in health care benefits, workers at UTC Fuel Cells overwhelmingly ratified a new contract Sunday - the first of three to be negotiated in the next year between the International Association of Machinists and United Technologies Corp.

The vote was 127-21.

About 95 percent of the bargaining unit's 168 members attended a briefing at the union hall in East Hartford Sunday morning. Given the weekend's winter storm, the turnout is an indication of workers' concern about the pact, said James M. Parent, the chief negotiator for the union.

The agreement covers production workers at UTC's fuel cells division in South Windsor. Next spring the machinists are scheduled to negotiate with UTC's Hamilton Sundstrand division, an aerospace components manufacturer based in Windsor Locks. In the fall, they are scheduled to bargain with jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, which has headquarters in East Hartford. Together the three bargaining units have about 5,500 workers.

Peter Dalpe, spokesman for UTC Fuel Cells, said the company was pleased to have reached "a fair and equitable agreement" with the union. He declined to comment further.

The fuel cells pact is seen as a bellwether when it comes to benefits because UTC likes to provide the same package to workers at all the divisions. Parent said he expects the corporation to make the same benefits proposal to Hamilton and Pratt workers. But he added that the vote by fuel cell workers doesn't necessarily predict approval at the two other divisions.

The fuel cells bargaining unit is small, the division is in a production lull, and workers there felt they had little bargaining power, Parent said.

"They thought it was best" to accept the proposal, he said. "That was the best thing at this time."

UTC Fuel Cells is the world leader in production of units for power generation, but Parent said the company has suspended production while it converts to a new, more efficient model. He said workers are frustrated by delays in getting the new model into production.

"Without work, a strike to turn back the health insurance take-aways would have been a risky gamble," the union said in a prepared statement.

The three-year agreement includes wage increases of 3 percent this year, 3 percent in 2004 and 2.5 percent in 2005, plus a cost-of-living adjustment. Workers also get a $500 ratification bonus. Pensions increase $2 a month for each year of service as of Jan. 1, 2004, to a maximum increase of $5.

The company agreed to maintain an enhanced retirement option for workers in departments facing layoffs. The pact also provides a new "separation offer" for workers who leave voluntarily by June 2004. They would get one week of pay for each year of service, a $5,000 bonus and six months' paid insurance.

The contract also includes new language that lets the machinists move with their work if it is relocated in Connecticut, even to another UTC operation represented by the union. The company also agreed to hear presentations from the machinists about a new management-labor partnership program.

But Parent said workers were unhappy with changes in health coverage. The new pact shifts more costs onto the machinists, he said. In addition, UTC will end its contribution to retiree health costs after Dec. 31, 2006 - a change already announced for the corporration's salaried workers.

Parent said the negotiations show why the United States needs a national solution to rising health care expenses.

"Even well-off employers like UTC say they can't afford to pay escalating costs," he said. "Their answer - to dump costs onto their employees - is no solution."