With Contract Set To Expire, Raytheon Workers Picket Andover Production Plant

ANDOVER, MA -- With their contract set to expire Saturday morning, hundreds of Raytheon employees held an "informational picket" outside the company's Andover production facility Tuesday. The workers are asking for better wages and medical coverage and less outsourcing of work to non-union facilities.

The 2,000 workers work at Raytheon production plants in Andover, Marlborough, Billerica, Waltham, Woburn and Tewksbury and are represented by Local 1505 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. About half of the employees covered by the expiring contract work in Andover.

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In a statement, Raytheon would only confirm that negotiations ate ongoing and that the contract does expire on September 23, according the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, which first reported the story.

The newspaper said employees make an average of $22 to $25 per hour but can pay as much as $8,000 per year in medical costs to cover a family. The union also claims Raytheon, a leading defense contractor, is sending work to non-union work sites in New Hampshire and other states.

For more on this story, see the Lawrence-Eagle Tribune.

Photo of Raytheon's corporate headquarters in Marlborough, MA by Nick Allen via WikiMedia Commons.