Strike hits Patriot missile manufacturer
BY TED LEONARD
ANDOVER, Massachusetts--With the strike against Raytheon Co. by 2,700 members of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1505 at the one-month mark, the entrance to the main plant here looks like a war zone. Each day dozens of strikers walk the picket line as city and private cops watch.
Two army green tents are set up inside the fence surrounding the company property for the private security force while the union has a tent in front of the fence with food, drinks, and shade available to picketers. Around the clock the street in front of the plant has orange barrels and a half a dozen cops in the middle of it directing traffic and ensuring that management personnel get through the picket line. On Interstate 93, which runs past the plant, state highway signs warn motorists to expect delays if they exit onto the highway that passes in front of the plant.
The unionists walked out August 28 after voting by an 88 percent margin to reject the offer by Raytheon, the third-largest military contractor in the United States. This was the first time in 34 years that the workers have picketed the company's 10 Massachusetts plants. Most of the IBEW members work at the plant here, which makes the Patriot missile.
According to Michael Zagami, the union's chief negotiator, there are four main issues in the strike--job security, protecting health benefits, upgrading the pension plan, and eliminating the two-tier wage system.
Cops attack picket line
On September 7 the police attacked the picket line, which had been joined by a contingent of members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Roger Aziz Jr., a 20-year employee at Raytheon described what happened. "People were just holding hands and standing strong. The Raytheon company had a bunch of militia come down and beat on a bunch of middle-aged people," he said.
After the cops' first assault on the picket line, they called in riot police in full gear and made arrests. Nine picketers were arrested and face charges that include disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and assault and battery on a police officer.
"To send a riot squad with full gear is ridiculous. All we're armed with are cardboard signs," asserted Stanley Lichwala, president of IBEW Local 1505, to the Eagle-Tribune, a local area newspaper.
More than 300 IBEW members and their supporters rallied September 18 in front of the plant here. Among those speaking was John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO.
Five members of Local S6 of the International Association of Machinists, who are on strike against Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, participated in the rally and walked the picket line. Also at the rally were workers from the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, Service Employees International Union, Communication Workers of America, American Postal Workers Union, and the Teamsters.
Behind the podium at the rally hung an IBEW banner and a handmade sign that read, "We need health insurance. My son Jon needs his medicine." A couple days after the strike began Raytheon canceled all the striking workers' medical coverage.
The company wants to end its current health insurance plan that has kept workers' out-of-pocket costs low with a plan that would raise the costs for doctor visits, hospitalization, and prescriptions. The company offered a one time $1,500 bonus to cover the additional costs.
A number of workers fear their jobs are going to be transferred to Arizona. Since 1995 the Lexington, Massachusetts-based Raytheon Co.'s workforce has gone from 19,500 to 13,000, which included the elimination of nearly 2,000 union jobs.
In 1995 Raytheon lobbied for and received, with the backing of the union, an exemption from paying state taxes on out-of-state sales if it kept its payroll at the 1995 level. Responding to charges that Raytheon has violated that agreement, the company points out that its in-state payroll has risen since 1995 as it has hired more high paid engineers and other professionals. At the same time, however, it has cut union and white collar jobs.
In 1995 the IBEW agreed to a wage freeze, the introduction of a two-tier wage scale, and a sharp reduction in the number of job classifications in the plant. In the 1998 contract a wage increase was won, but the two tier remained.
Nearly 200 strikers and supporters participated in a rally September 25 entitled "Women on the Line, Sisters in Struggle," held at Raytheon's corporate headquarters in Lexington, Massachusetts. The leaflet building the rally invited women to "join your sisters in support of Local 1505's fight for a fair contract."
At the rally a flyer was distributed for a "Solidarity Rally" September 30 at the Andover plant. It is being sponsored by IBEW Local 1505, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, and Jobs for Justice.
Ted Leonard is a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees Local 311. Gary Cohen contributed to this article.
| 
