UAW Local 405 members are set to launch an unfair labor practice strike at Triumph Engine Control Systems beginning at 5:00 a.m. Monday, November 2, after the company committed multiple unfair labor practices and refused to present a fair economic proposal that meets the membership’s needs.
The 175 members of Local 405 build and overhaul fuel systems for U.S. military aircraft, including the Chinook, Apache and Black Hawk. Their contract expired at midnight on October 31.
Negotiations opened September 22. The union presented its economic proposals on October 15. The company did not respond with any economic proposal until October 23, eight days before expiration. Talks broke down Thursday when the company acknowledged major movement by the union, then immediately presented a last, best and final offer and refused further discussion of the union’s core issues: job security, successorship, cost-of-living protection, aerospace sector standard wages, and healthcare costs.
“A deal means two sides coming to an agreement, not the company dictating conditions to make lives harder for our membership and our families. We were always ready to negotiate but they gave us nothing, and handed us a take-it-or-leave-it offer instead with none of our priorities even acknowledged” said UAW Local 405 President Ben Wilcox.
The highly profitable Triumph was purchased by private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Berkshire Partners last year for approximately $3 billion. The company has told the union it intends to sell the business again and has refused to agree to standard successorship language requiring a future buyer to recognize the union and the contract, an existential threat to the local.
“Wall Street didn’t build this plant, and they won’t be here to run it in five years. Our members will,” said UAW Region 9A Director Brandon Mancilla.
During the 2021-2026 agreement, the company overhauled the health plan and shifted tens of thousands of dollars in deductibles and out-of-pocket costs onto members. Workers with chronic conditions such as MS, those facing catastrophic events including car accidents and cancer, and families with children who have genetic disorders have been hit hardest.
Members voted 148 to 1 to authorize a strike, with 86 percent participation.
The union says it remains willing to meet at any time and has room to move toward an agreement on job security, healthcare and wages.