Nearly 300 workers locked out of Troy Collins plant

Nearly 300 members of the United Auto Workers were locked out of the Collins Aerospace Troy plant over the weekend after contract talks failed, a union member said Monday.

Union members rejected a company contract proposal, said Ron Alexander, who runs the elections committee of UAW Local 128.

“They actually sent some of our employees home on Saturday,” Alexander said. “They haven’t been allowed in the facility since Saturday afternoon.”

All three work shifts were locked out Monday, a move affecting 296 UAW members, he said.

After receiving a “last, best and final offer” on Feb. 16, UAW members voted 230 to 37 against a company contract proposal, the union said in a statement.

“UAW Local 128 members have been told that they will be locked out by Collins Aerospace at midnight Sunday, instead of the company in good faith trying to collectively bargain with their employees for adequate pay, benefits and health and safety provisions,” the union said in a statement Sunday. “UAW members are clear that they have offered to work while continuing to bargain.”

A spokesman for the Charlotte, N.C.-based company said the plant is “open and operating as normal.”

“Collins Aerospace is prepared to continue negotiating in good faith with UAW Local 128 and seeks to reach an agreement that recognizes and rewards our employees’ contributions while allowing us to remain competitive,” company spokesman Al Killeffer said in an email to the Dayton Daily News.

Alexander said he did not know when contract talks might resume.

“I’m guessing they’re making their salaried people work,” he said. “I have no idea.”

“We’re not allowed even in the parking lot,” he added.

Collins’ wheels and brakes division is at 101 Waco St., in Troy, a facility that dates back to what had been a Goodrich plant when United Technologies acquired it in 2012.

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