It is a new beginning- rules, long flaunted, will be upheld. There will be absolutely no tolerance to anyone dogging those on "the list."

The list was a weak spirited attempt by the union to brand anyone crossing the picket line. It served- in the end poorly- as an intimidation factor to anyone that has thoughts of being a traitor.

US AGAINST THEM was the mindset. Big Brother quashing the spirits and pocketbooks of the working stiffs that make Sikorsky tick.

And tick on it did lick a metronome on speed after last April when the shop came alive like no other time in my memory since my date of hire (Fall 1978). Blades and choppers moved in and out in record time and amounts. Some of it was because of the strike and some of it was because of the Iraq boondoggle. Blades(those whirly type things that propel helicopters) in particular do not like the desert. Wind and sand beat the hell out of them. Hence, the cash cow known as replacements -(known as spares) was being milked like never before.

There is no doubt that times at SIK are promising with new clients and models but the fact remains that the war is bolstering the bottom line.

The union is on top of this development . You can see it on the backs of hundreds, if not thousands of workers every Friday. A bright red t-shirt with the horsehead logo on the front and on the back WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS on the back. If truth be told in parenthesis under these words should be AND THE WAR.

Quick observation is that many workers learned little from the strike and still live beyond their means. What happens when ten hour days, Saturday and Sundays are gone- try a grand less in the paycheck. Think about it.

I am not advocating the war. In fact , I saw a bumper sticker that said it all -Buck Fush.

Areas have been eliminated and reorganized - deal with it. Rules will be enforced, many of which I never even knew existed. Complacency is a dinosaur.

In direct relation to the strike - no tolerance on harassment in any form, by anybody. It sucks that it came to this but it is the only solution. It will not be a prison but if you cannot be civil, keep your mouth shut or hit the bricks.

All good stuff. The real hard sell will be entire departments with many people that have been here 25+ having to leave their sanctuary and learn new jobs. Tough luck - that's why it's called labor.

Much of the stuff I saw the first day had been on paper when we left. It's amazing how quickly things happen when there is an opening. Hint: lack of workers (supposed) advocates missing.

Overall I am exited about the flow - the lean - the record rates but what will be the end cost?

Generic and interchangeable are great ideas but may not be fluid due to the limited skill set of some, if not many, workers. Of course, this is not re-inventing the wheel or doing anything too complicated. It will take time, probably more than what is available to make quotas this year.

Time will tell.

Call it anarchy if you want but - at this point - comments to this blog have outlived their usefulness. I can always be contacted via e-mail if you have a revelation.

It is surreal looking out at my favorite deck chair flecked with snow. I love that chair and hope it isn't ruined. The placement of the various chairs and table from shed to this favorite oasis was one of the few accomplishments I achieved during the strike. Mostly I wrote and analyzed and studied my options in case of absolute disaster - a new career. That is not a pretty picture for me or almost anyone that gets AARP. I am not that unique.

Amazed of the enormity and impossibility of it all. Looking back, I was glad to be a part of it regardless of the "loss". It was only in a small way financial.

What my, or the companies, future holds is impossible to predict but I am optimistic that things, over time, will never normalize. I want things to be better, be leaner and be more professional, and then maybe, just maybe we don't have to go through this mental/meat grinder again in three years at the end of the contract.

As far as future posts, it will be up to some bench jockey at SIK or maybe even some GM type at UTC. Now I am back under their umbrella...

Wish me well.

—Goz

As an ex-striker I felt a bit of both of these strong emotions up to the biggest and perhaps most controversial labor vote in SIK history.

Whereas I never got to cover an international incident like Jim McCay and ABC did in Munich or uncovered the comedic elegance of barrel jumping in Podunk, Minnesota I got to cover the ups and downs of a major labor strike. The anguish and exultation, the tears of sadness and joy.

As for the agony; I tend to disagree with the statement from Mr. Murphy of the international were he termed the fight a 'bloody draw'; unless you consider the blood green as in the color of hemorrhaging cash. This is the union party line given to the media, 'they (the strikers) couldn't afford it anymore'.

This cause, in theory, was valid. A ramrod take-it-or-leave-it on the healthcare was the grim reaper. The simplistic 31 cent stance was perfectly logical IF it did not have a domino effect in a chunk of the future negotiations of over 200 thousand UT employees. This cloaked an even bigger issue of the Holy Grail, that many countries have, national healthcare. Is it feasible in this country? Someday, that day is not now. This was the wrong place at the wrong time.

As far as victories, they are numerous for the strikers. Dignity is in tact for those that stood tall despite uncountable hardships. If nothing else it was a time for getting reacquainted with family and maybe even more importantly, ourselves.

As to the people that crossed the line I hold no major malice. If you were a friend before nothing has changed. Would the strike have turned out differently if no one crossed that line? Maybe, maybe not. On one hand the company would have suffered from the lack of help and may have increased the booty, on the other hand, these people would only have voted to go back. End of story, April 2, 2006.

The end of the strike does not thrill me, nor do I feel agonized. It is a surreal gray area of pain and pleasure, of give and take. Of life.

Thank you for reading this blog and all your reactions both pro and con.

John Gozzi

The original vote was approximately 2000/1100. In effect the vote was pro-strike by 550 votes. The exact number of ineligible voters — those that crossed that line — is unknown. For the sake of argument I’ll say 300. Let’s presume that the vast majority — 90% — of that group ratified the first time the hypothetical swing needed for vote II would then be close to 600 (out of close to 2,000) people will have to change from NO to YES. 3 out of 10 people would need to change their minds. Will it happen? I have no idea but I will list a few reasons that it is possible.

The lure of the vacation checks in April
The reimbursement of COBRA
The fear that jobs are leaving
The realization that the health care battle cannot be won
Mounting bills
Loss of faith in the "negotiators"

This does not take into account the 500 people that did not vote the first time. Did these people fail to vote because they thought the contract would pass-like it always did OR fail as advocated by the local 1150? No clue but they may be the wild card.

For those of you not into numbers I can offer the analogy of a popular board game, Monopoly. Everyone knows Monopoly with the square board of properties, utilities and resting stops.

Monopoly is a model for many of our lives at SIK. The cheaper properties, the New Havens, the Bridgeports, and the lower end Valley locales are where we all started. Over the years many moved into their second houses in more affluent areas, the Milfords, the Wallingfords , the Branfords. Comfortably numb many continued the climb to the Huntingtons, the Eastons, the Madisons. Around the board, the houses got bigger and fuller , the mortgages higher and on and on.

There were also some that were happy to stay in the cities and the workingman towns. Either way our pay rose and for many the standard of living rose with it. A factory schmoe somehow, someway was pulling in over 50 grand a year. Some would call it the fulfillment of the American dream.

This strike is not a board game it is real, it is Sikorskopoly and — when you past GO it is a lot more than $200, ordinarily. Now is not the best of times. While the world spins the bills keep coming. This offer may be the final “get out of jailâ€? card.

Think about it.

By JOHN GOZZI

As week six concludes in the Sikorsky Aicraft strike, there is a cautious optimism that a settlement is imminent. Depending on who you believe between 150 and 200 (out of 3,600) people have crossed the picket line with more sure to follow in droves, rather than dribs and drabs, if there is no quick resolution.

The strike experience has been trying — and not just economically. It has not been a sprint but a marathon and now we are approaching Heartbreak Hill. This is not your typical 26-miles-and-385-yard marathon, but one of human psyche and constitution.

Marathons are contests of endurance with common casualties; not the fatal kind of casualties, but of drop- outs and disqualifiers. Those that chose to quit the race — the so called "scabs" — belong among them; they could not handle the stress, be it financial or for other reasons. But the race goes on.

A strike is new ground for the majority of those in this marathon. It requires stamina, will power and faith. In the real running world it would be lung power, strict diet and rest. To be blunt, there are no Kenyans (top flight long distance men/women) among us.

The real Heartbreak Hill — in Boston — has been known to empty the reserves of body and soul. To make the Hill even more diabolical there is a series of nasty smaller hills beyond it. These hills of animosity will be out of order for us, but are sure to exist behind the brick and mortar at the various Sikorsky Aircraft locations.

Winning times in marathons are influenced by the weather or to a lesser extent the right running shoes. We bore the cold, the work boots and six layers of clothing and all the while fighting a strong headwind.

It was the headwind of resistance and negativity from the start from Sikorsky/United Technologies Corp. and the public. The timing of the strike — the war in Iraq and the huge 2006 customer commitment along with the refusal to bear increased health care costs — painted the strikers as villainous.

In hindsight it was the '27 Yankees versus the Amazing Mets from the start, but at least we may have heightened awareness of the plight of big business on the working class.

But let’s not turn this strike into another famous Boston event — a massacre.

Many of the strikers have been with the company for half their lives. It is what they do. Has Sikorsky fed, clothed, and sheltered them all these years? Of course, but remember for this company to prosper, we are the yin to their yang.

Any degree of malice that will enter the doors along with over 3,000 workers can be tempered now; not in two weeks, a month or even in the middle of June with the proverbial one guy in a lawn chair on the picket line.

The finish line of any marathon is littered with broken bodies, empty cups and worse. We don’t have to cross that line to a pot of gold, a bouquet of roses or a new Mercedes. Don’t degrade us by offering less; anything resembling a fair shake will pass.

Just give us a deal that we can live with so that we may move on with the priceless stuff: our dignity, our careers and, last but not least, our lives.

People have asked me 'why did you write the blog', and all I can tell you is that I had no preconceptions about the project. All I wanted to do is to exercise my writing muscles in three disciplines: creative non-fiction, writing for print (reporting) and writing for broadcast (radio/TV). They all are a work in progress and I thank all the people related and unrelated to the strike for your inputs.

This may or may not be the final chapter in Walking the Line if you want to know why I actually feel the urge to write you can read my essay that got me into graduate school.

LEGACY, DETERMINATION and endless possibilities compel me to write. Journalism is legacy, without it there would be no history, a mundane present and a hopeless future. It is also an inescapable juggernaut, if you read newspapers, view films or television, listen to music, or surf the internet, you partake in it.

Legacy is not merely a recap of last night’s scores or current events, it is a prism of words reflecting life. Journalism is the emotional smattering of rain on a parched landscape as well as the stark reality of the runaway train killing forty seven. Quality writing can be as timeless and revered as a painting in the Louvre.

The qualities of vocabulary, syntax and being well read are surprisingly incidental to successful writing. Great journalism is fueled by, creativity, passion and dogged determination. Insightful writers get their readers to the destination without drawing a map.

Unfortunately, there is no checklist or set of instructions for writing a story. Creative writers are constantly editing and avoid pat endings, clichés and puff pieces like anthrax. They possess the gift of symbolism, fresh metaphor and scoff at the status quo. Strong writers have the drive and confidence that their current work will be their best.

Writers block, conflicts of interest, or incorrect stats are just a few of journalists’ pitfalls but one intolerable excuse is “I have nothing to write about.� If that’s the case promptly donate your word processor to your local library, for it is the endless possibilities that are the allure to all writers.

Ebb and flow, mountains and gorges are emblematic of the nature of the craft, rarely is it liquid and downhill. Creative writing is the meandering path that never happens on demand, this essay for example started out (many drafts ago) as a juxtaposing of journalism and an early morning round of golf. Instead when it came time to write, the images I came up with were not of a little ball and figures of speech but of the Great Blue Heron I spotted mannequin-like in some marsh weeds adjacent to the first tee; closing my eyes did little good but to remind me of Mr. and Mrs. Partridge catapulting from brush alongside the ninth hole. Later that day I encountered an old man fully clad in white riding a lawn tractor on what turned out to be the hottest June 11th in history for that part of upstate New York; the shy pleasure of an Amish man, Mose Kiem, selling jam and woven baskets from his buggy with his blinder-bound roan/friend lashed to a nearby tree; a battered Yugo thoroughly plastered with “green� stickers in front of an energy fair; and finally, the eerie singing of a patina covered corrugated bridge spanning the Rackett River. To most civilization these sights would be petty or go completely unnoticed; to me they represent intriguing opportunities for I am a journalist.

John F. Gozzi

I have never been a great follower of union activities or for that matter union/company dealing up until the last two months. Never attended a meeting and never voted on a contract until that fateful February day.

I have since been educated but am by no means an expert on any of these subjects. Many of my comments/suggestions may have been legally speaking stupid, in others I have been right on the mark.

Now, it has been announced that on April 2nd there will be vote on contract offer IV. Many call this good news; I call it a knee-jerk reaction to the official and public declaration regarding permanent replacement workers by SIK/Amato.

All along the (union) party line was that a vote would be taken only after FINAL AND BEST was offered. If the numbers of the past two offers contract were stagnant — or worst — how will contract IV be better? I'll be kind and call it democracy, finally.

In reality it is more than likely a rhetorical vote. A vote with a predetermined outcome that will make the original tally look narrow. Hopefully, I am wrong and the company will have a reasonable offer.

No matter what, vote with blinders on and only AFTER you read the offer. Sadly, if what has been reported in many circles is true it (a job) may all ready be too late.

It is unclear if and when a second letter will be mailed out to the strikers that will, in effect, give us a last chance to reclaim our jobs.

The whole situation appears to be coming to a festering point due to this latest development. This hypothetical letter may actually be a relief to some, if not, many strikers.

Like every punch the union has taken at the company SIK has returned a flurry. This latest development is a bit different, it is not reactive but on the assault. If nothing else it helps defuse what is as far as I know local 1150's final bomb — the Carnegie Hall delegation. April 12 seems a long time from now.

Rumors can be anything from harmless fun, to cut-to-the-bone mean. This latest move by SIK is neither. It is no rumor but a calculated move by our employer and more than a little bit threatening. It's also a common BIG BUSINESS ploy.

Either we get rolling — around the clock realistic bargaining — or are steamrolled, that is the issue, and a decision is needed ASAP and without ego. It shouldn't be HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES but THE TIME IS NOW.

I saw him outside UTC's ivory/golden towered office yesterday, smiling that JayJ smile and flashing away with his digital camera. He remains steadfast as a striker.

He is also resourceful — like many of the "jobless" — cleaning gutters, making dump runs and doing yard work. Finances are okay and he tells me that he will weather this storm.

He gave me a definitive reason why he thought backing the union was important. Without going into specifics, he likes the thought of the protection of local 1150. They watch his back, pure and simple.

At this point in time, my rant yesterday notwithstanding, there is a question as to the effectiveness of this shield. Right now, if this was Star Trek, it could be considered a force field malfunction. Will it get up and running soon... or ever again?

Read the Full Text

The red neck is from reading today's Hartford Courant. Once again a unilateral decision was made by the powers-that-be at local 1150. Once again - there is no vote. Once again -there is no democratic process. This is IRRESPONSIBLE and is because of fear.

Fear that the majority - that 51 percent - has got the guts to cut our losses. Fear that the majority does not want to carry the crucifix for the countrywide debate that health care costs are out of control. It is a fight beyond our political means or stamina.

The black heart is from the ongoing lack of communication and mixed signals. The company is no paragon of virtue either but compared to us they shine like their golden palace in Hartford.

The union website continues with the fountain of misinformation. What are the attachments - besides not budging on health care - that are so bad making the last offer unimaginable? We, the strikers, need to know! It should not be a secret.

I'll check out the Gold Building, maybe even go to Carnegie Hall but unless the focus becomes spotlighted soon I will have to evaluate my personal line - of enough is enough - in the quicksand.

The Gold Building and Carnegie Hall will never be the same after the great teamster's siege. If we are banking on this as a make or break strategy, come up with your hands up because we are busted - and maybe in more ways than one.

Let's find some scapegoats cause sooner than later we may need some. My opinion - just that tiny .003 percent - is to ditch the mediator - the results are not there. While we're at it let's get some new legal representation, let's give the brethren a shot of top dollar, never-lost-a-battle talent. Surely, this union can call D.C., somewhere, anywhere for some "new eyes".

Why the condemnation? Simple, he targeted us first. DO NOT CROSS THE LINE, YOU WILL WIN, DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS. Any lawyer I ever have needs to give me reasons to go along with edicts.

WIN? Let's be real here, a compromise looks like a winning lottery ticket right now - rare. NOT QUESTIONS? oh yeah, the media links are feeding into the hysteria and that tips off the company. That to me is nonsense; the company has got the playbook and gone over the films.

In spite of the confusion, the scattergun approach, the reactive model somehow by some miracle a small percentage has crossed. Amazing really, eleven-hundred people voted to accept the contract and still there is solidarity. That is our strength. The bus trips, the proxy votes, the poster-board is nothing but a media served down the middle fastball.

The struggle is still undefined, is it health care for US or for the U.S? Do we concede the issue and "trade up" in other areas? There are plenty of them, wage, bonus, retirement just to name a few. Put ten negotiators on each topic, mix and match.

Apparently to thousands - myself included - six weeks is a small sacrifice to pay but what exactly are we attempting to buy? For that matter maybe we can get Larry the Cable Guy - at least he's got a better mantra - GET 'ER DONE!

It is because of these close bonds that I can no longer be the enabler for those commenters that have used this blog as a sideshow and joke pit.

Censorship with regard to tone an language are the general disclaimers at the intro to the blog. It is not enough.

Sure the numbers will come down and for all I know the Post may pull the plug on the whole stinkin' mess but it is the only way. There will be no published comments section.

The whole experience has enlightened me to the breadth and exposure to and, in part, of being in the media. The power of the pen does not come without strings attached. Making people happy is not one of them as a blogger/columnist.

For every meritorious and lucid observation there were a hundred rumors, catcalls, denunciations and off the subject narrations. Propaganda and psy-ops were all too common.

My thanks go out to everyone that has taken the time to speak with me while Walking the Line. Special thanks to those that offered constructive criticism in the comment section, it has only helped me to learn more about the original focus of this blog, to be a quasi-reporter/columnist.

I shall persevere.

This is not the highest level of reporting (investigative) for the simple undeniable fact that I am a striker. My "story" is about the here and now. All the things I have written about the past are all facts. Surely, to protect a level of privacy almost all names were pseudonyms while my name remains exposed. Maybe it will turn out to be a huge mistake and I will have burnt both (hourly and salary) bridges in the meantime...it cannot be changed.

The segue from writing development to journalist came about on its own and it took a real life reporter to bring it to my attention. He told me that what I was doing is called Advocate Journalism; which means that you are stirring the pot (of thoughts and status quo). He called me "one of the dogs." I think it was a metaphor for nipping at the heels of powerful people/things. This is a serious job whose description does not include letting inmates run the asylum.

As much as I have been led to believe that some people have found solace in this blog for venting purposes it has been ruined by the masses.

Hence, to reiterate, the comment section is closed.

—Goz