Bell Helicopter, Union Remain at Odds After Talks

Second consecutive day of failed negotiations will keep 2,500 union members on strike

By ANGELA K. BROWN

Updated 10:26 AM CST, Sun, Jul 12, 2009

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After the second consecutive day of failed negotiations with Bell Helicopter, union officials said Friday that their 2,500 members were committed to the strike "for the duration" after picketing for the past month.

"It appears everybody is holding strong and is fully prepared for the duration," said Gary Livingston, a bargaining committee member for United Auto Workers Local 218. "It's a good feeling (that) everybody's willing to stay strong, stick together and fight for each other."

He said the company maintained during Friday's meeting that it had no more to offer, but that the union was willing to negotiate.

But Bell "remains available and committed to reaching a solution that will get everyone back to work," spokesman Tom Dolney said in a statement.

Both sides said talks were suspended with no further negotiations scheduled.

Friday's meeting was the third since the strike started in mid-June after UAW Local 218 rejected a three-year contract because of proposed increases in medical costs and plans to outsource janitors' work.

Since the strike began, Bell has brought in about 1,000 temporary workers to its parts factories in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The Fort Worth-based company has said no deliveries to customers, including the military, have been delayed.

But tensions between Bell and the union seem to be mounting. In a recent letter to the union, a Bell official alleged "numerous reports" of striking workers violating a state law that bans obscene or threatening language and blocking a property's entrance or exit.

The letter from Martha May, a senior vice president and chief human resources officer, also blamed picketers for "multiple accidents" on Monday but did not say where. The letter demanded that they stay on public property and warned of legal action if violations continued.

Livingston said picketers had not violated any laws and had been working with police. He said the letter was "another scare tactic."

Dolney referred questions about the accidents to law enforcement authorities.

According to Fort Worth police records, two car accidents and one hit-and-run accident were reported on the street in front of one Bell plant Monday. Hurst police Sgt. Craig Teague said a couple of minor accidents were reported that day because of traffic congestion around the plant, which borders Fort Worth and Hurst.