Business Manager’s Report

Sisters and Brothers,

                As many of you saw this week; Raytheon Technologies has decided to pack up their headquarters after a century in Massachusetts and move to Virginia. I don’t think I need to tell you how concerning this news is considering that Raytheon has been able to do business all over the world for almost 100 years from right here in Massachusetts. I have been warning our Local for over 2 years that the Raytheon and United Technologies merger was far from just a merger; it was a complete and total takeover of the Raytheon that we once knew. Raytheon Technologies now has over 600 facilities in 44 states; almost all of which are not here in the northeast. It is now more imperative than ever that we stay strong and unified as a whole and to show this company why Local 1505 has been the heart of Raytheon’s business in Massachusetts for the last 75 years.

                Speaking of Local 1505’s 75^th anniversary we are having an anniversary BBQ on Saturday July 16^th at the Lowell Bunting club from 2-6 pm. We would like to see as many members as possible attend this celebration of our Local. Tickets are $10.00 and this covers food, music, drinks and more. Charging a small fee will help offset the soaring cost of food and the venue.

                As many of you know the company has been having an incredibly difficult time getting the supplies that they need to do the work. We have asked the company multiple times to try and make parts in house, but there is also a raw materials shortage as well. The company has told us that the only way that they can make it through this material shortage are to offer TLO’s. As a result, this past week 55 members took a 3-week TLO from the CCA contractual dept. We had to fight with the company to get them to follow the correct TLO procedure and run all the lists by seniority allowing for most if not all to be asked for a TLO in the coming weeks. In our TLO negotiations we were able to get the company to grant 11 more departmental VLO’s as well and I would like to wish these members all a happy and healthy retirement and thank them for their years of support to Local 1505.

 Local 1505 as part of the 5^th shift negotiations for the new wafer fabrication weekend shift were able to get a couple of very big wins. First, we were able to secure “soft landing” language; meaning if you are laid off, at the end of your 12-week continuance pay your hourly rate will personalized to above (roughly halfway between) the top of your current rate and the top of the rate in which you were laid off from. We were also able to get the company to agree to paying double time for overtime worked on holidays (including Christmas shutdown) instead of the time and a half that we historically have been paid. This is a very big win as we have been trying to get the company to agree to this for years.