Day 19 - Daily Bargaining Update - 10/30/2026

Brothers and Sisters,

It has been something to see today. The solidarity in that plant is real. We have each other's backs and we are ready.

First, there is no agreement.

The company's letter implies they reached an agreement with your Union and thanks us for it. That is false. There is no agreement. Your bargaining committee has not agreed to anything, and nothing gets agreed to without your vote. We will give members plenty of time to read, process and vote.

What the company's "final" offer does not contain:

• No successorship

• No job security

• No protection against inflation

• No real relief on healthcare

They put it in black and white. Here is what each one means for you.

No successorship. The next buyer could lay us all off and refuse to recognize our Union and our contract. Triumph told us at the table they want the "flexibility" to do exactly that. This company was sold to private equity last year and they have told us they intend to sell again.

No healthcare relief. The member with a very sick child. The member whose spouse has MS. The member facing surgery. Under this offer they keep paying the thousands in costs this company shifted onto us in 2022. We cannot allow that for our families.

No inflation protection. Prices in our region are up 21.4% since 2021. An $80,000 income back then buys about $65,900 worth of groceries, rent and gas today. That is roughly $14,000 a year, gone. Their offer does nothing about it.

Now look at the money.

This company was sold for about $3 billion last year. Shareholders were paid a 123% premium over the share price. The Union's entire package - everything we asked for, for all 174 of us - costs about $6.5 million a year. That's nothing to this company with $680 million in profits. 

We make this company its money. This site wins their awards. They have told us themselves that West Hartford carries their less profitable locations. And this is what they do to us?

Does this feel like respect?

Delaying negotiations. Hiding healthcare costs we had to find out ourselves. Interrogating members about how they voted. Walking away from the table. A misleading letter. A union-busting law firm running the show.

We are filing federal labor charges against this company for threatening our jobs, refusing to bargain over our core issues, and questioning members about the strike vote. Those are all illegal. 

The Company Strategy

This is the final attempt to push a bad deal. Websites, letters to your home (that's coming next), bad deals. Morgan Lewis does this for a living against UAW locals all over the country. But it is what companies do when they are not ready for a strike and know they will have to come back to the table on COLA, job security and healthcare. It's their last gasp.

It is a sign of weakness. And it will not work.

Where we stand.

Our committee started early, moved first, and made substantial movement this week. The company sat on economics until the end, told us they would only move money around, and then declared themselves done. And they told us Tuesday of this week they were going to do this!

We are ready to bargain in good faith at any hour, any day, including this weekend. We have told them so in writing. The company is the side that decided it was finished. But we are here to bargain a good deal. If not, our members are making preparations.

Tick Tock, Triumph.

In Solidarity,

Your Bargaining Committee