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Eaton-Cobham strike to continue, union says
98% members voted Thursday to reject tentative agreement
Associated Press
Feb. 22, 2022 11:14 am
DAVENPORT — A labor strike that began last week at a Davenport defense contractor supplier will continue for at least another week, union leaders said.
A representative of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 6 said that Eaton Corp. has said company representatives won’t return to the bargaining table until March 1, the Des Moines Register reported.
The strike at the Eaton-Cobham Mission Systems factory in Davenport began Friday.
It began after 98 percent of union members voted Thursday to reject a tentative agreement with the company over what union representative John Herrig said was the company’s offer of “substandard wages” and cuts to health care and retirement benefits.
Of the plant's approximate 900 employees, 365 workers are union members, according to a bargaining notice filed in December.
Katie Kennedy, spokeswoman for Eaton’s aerospace division, declined to confirm for the Des Moines Register whether company representatives are staying away from talks until March 1, saying only that the company has “proposed dates to continue negotiations.”
The Eaton-Cobham Mission Systems factory makes airplane parts for defense contractors, including systems that allow planes to refuel while in the air.
Eaton bought the company in June for $2.8 billion.