The Colt Firearms Strike: Understanding A Breakdown in Labor Relations (2008)

Undergraduate: David Fox

Faculty Advisor: Jay Garcia
Department: History

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At the beginning of 1985, Colt Firearms in Hartford Connecticut was a very profitable gun manufacturer ,employing more than eight hundred well paid workers. Nevertheless, by 1986 the company was at the beginning of a three year strike that became so bitter that it only ended with the company declaring bankruptcy. Transcripts of the six month National Labor Relations Board hearing reveal that unconventional bargaining strategies used by both labor and management served to polarize an already tense environment and eliminate the possibility of a negotiated settlement, even though that would have been to the advantage of both sides. On the labor side, harmful techniques centered around the "in plant strike" between the breakdown of negotiations in March, 1985 and the beginning of the actual strike in January, 1986. During this time, workers systematically refused to work overtime, and there were instances of sabotage and theft. On the management side, the company steadfastly refused to increase its contract offer beyond a very low starting point, and began to change long standing policies that benefited the union, such as paying union representatives for their time spent in negotiations, and reducing the traditional flexibility in determining when overtime would be worked. The degree to which the atmosphere was poisoned during this period can be seen in the length and bitterness of the ensuing strike, which was far more severe than such actions had been in the past.