Machinists and Food Service Workers Stand Strong

As the country braces for a second Trump term, workers across Connecticut are stepping up their organizing, demanding decent wages and conditions as corporate profits continue to skyrocket. Rallies by IAM and Unite Here this week are building solidarity, determination and hope.

IAM Local 700 and 1746 members rallied outside Pratt & Whitney in Middletown to protest recent furloughs of hundreds of workers in advance of contract negotiations.. Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of the profitable RTX Corporation, said they were “cost saving to remain competitive,” yet the company has $100 billion of back orders.

Joined by other unions and elected officials, the Machinists said the furloughs hurt their families and the local economy. A key issue in upcoming contract negotiations will be job security, ensuring work remains in Connecticut into the future. The IAM has called on Pratt & Whitney to stop moving production out of state to nonunion areas. In the1980s in Connecticut 38,000 people worked at Pratt & Whitney, down to 11,000 today, as the company invests millions out of state.

In New Haven, Unite Here 217 school cafeteria workers who have been without a contract since June, are picketing outside the Board of Education, and turning out at Board of Education meetings demanding a fair contract and a decent living. The cafeteria workers serve millions of meals to New Haven's children, but their wages have not kept up with the rising cost of living, leaving them pooer now then in 2020.

“We are fighting to ensure that every worker in New Haven has access to a good union job that provides economic security and dignity,” says Scott Marks, director of New Haven Rising.

Betty Alford who has served children at Truman School for 32 years said, “I love what I do. But I also love to be treated fairly. We deserve a decent contract. I help to raise my four grandchildren, and after inflation, I need a raise to pay my bills and put food on my table.”

For Pratt & Whitney workers and school cafeteria workers alike, their organizing is part of a rising movement of workers ready to do what it takes for the dignity of their work, pushing back against corporate greed and standing together for stronger protections and benefits.