Kensington, CT May 21, 2003 -- Machinists Union members voted by a three-to-one margin this morning to end their strike against Stanley Works and accept a revised offer from management. Workers voted this morning at a meeting in New Britain.
     The new offer by Stanley management includes an additional pension increase, raises for 150 workers formerly excluded, reduced increases for prescription drugs, and new language to help curtail subcontracting within the plant of maintenance work.
     The biggest boost to Job Security for Stanley workers came with the news that CEO John Trani stated his intention to retire. The union meeting erupted into cheers as IAM District 26 Directing Business Rep Everett Corey announced that news. DBR Corey told the strikers, "You deserve a lot of the credit for getting rid of Trani."
     DBR Corey also related that management watched carefully to see how many workers would cross picket lines last Monday morning. When almost none did at 7 AM, management was on the phone by 8 AM asking to resume negotiations.
     This strike was the first at Stanley Works in 35 years. Most of the current work force had never been involved in a strike before. Given that, the job they did of maintaining solidarity, supporting each other and not crossing the picket line was truly remarkable.
     As Donald D’Amato, President of IAM Local 1433 said, "We didn’t get everything we wanted. But we made gains. More important, we showed Stanley Works that they cannot take us for granted. We’ll return to work with our heads held high."