Star-Tribune Newspaper of the Twin Cities Mpls.-St.

Paul Sherri Cruz; Staff Writer 6 November 2000 2170 words A small group of Honeywell workers hangs out at the VFW after their 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. shift at the Golden Valley plant. Crowded around a small table in the corner of the dimly lit room, they're smoking cigarettes, tossing back a few cans of Miller Lite and remembering their version of the good ol' days at Honeywell. The days before the mergers. The days when it seemed everyone and their brother worked at Honeywell. When the factory was whirring and vibrant, bustling to keep up with customer orders. Before downsizing. Before micromanagement set in, the employees say, when they didn't have to go through layers of management to get simple things done. The days when people on the floor were promoted and workers called the company, "hometown Honeywell." Today they call it "corporate Honeywell" as it is once again being bought - this time by one of the world's most powerful companies. Barely a year after Honeywell was acquired by AlliedSignal, General Electric swooped in to snatch the company from the arms of United Technologies, a Honeywell suitor and GE rival. Although there were no production workers in Honeywell's Home and Building Control division laid off as a result of the AlliedSignal merger, they still pause with uncertainty and anxiety to consider what could happen this time: layoffs, closure, spin-off - all of which have been dismissed by GE and Honeywell officials, at least for now. But overriding the feelings of insecurity has been the workers' ability to

adapt as Honeywell has transformed itself from a family company into a corporate monolith. And although morale isn't the highest it's ever been, workers hold out hope that GE, like its ad slogan claims, indeed may bring good things to life. "I'm hoping for the best," said Dan Riordan, a Honeywell machinist who regularly stops by VFW Post 7051 after work with his co-workers. "GE is a very large and solid company." GE could bring better or worse times to the workers at Honeywell's original franchise, the Minneapolis-based Home and Building Control division. After all, GE's Chief Executive Jack Welch has the nickname "Neutron Jack." He's known for mercilessly wielding his ax on underperforming divisions and slashing work forces. Under Welch, GE eliminated 100,000 jobs. (Welch, who is almost 65, has announced he will retire at the end of 2001.) "I don't feel safe and secure," said Sue Johnson, 46, sitting among her friends at the VFW. Yet she says, "it's too late to start over somewhere else." She has worked on an assembly line at the Home and Building Control division for 22 years. She is not alone. The majority of Honeywell employees at the Golden Valley plant have worked there at least 10 years and more than half have 20 or more years of service. Honeywell is "seniority loaded," said Jim Holte, secretary-treasurer for the workers' union, Teamsters Local 1145. At the same time, many of the workers seem resigned to the fact that corporate mergers aren't anything they can control. "I can't worry about something I have no control over, so I don't let it bug me," Riordan said.

"I'm not really afraid because whatever is going to happen is going to happen," said Ken Colvin, a "short-timer" who has been with Honeywell for 16 years. Colvin said no matter which company he's working for, he'll still be doing the same job, running his four machines. His line makes 8,000 thermostats a day. The $6.1 billion division, part of the Automation and Asset Management unit, employs 2,400 people in the Twin Cities. At one time, the number was much higher, around 14,000. New Jersey-based Honeywell International employs 120,000 people, about 8,200 of them in Minnesota. Workers at the Golden Valley plant make air cleaners, mechanical controls, gas valves for furnaces and thermostats, including the well-known Honeywell Round. Despite the incessant instability, older workers aren't looking to pick up and leave anytime soon and new hires are still arriving. Older workers have raised their children, paid for their houses, earned five weeks of vacation and are nearing retirement. Those who have 30 years of seniority at age 55 will receive a full pension at age 60 rather than waiting until they are 65. New hires come for the benefits, Johnson said. Honeywell pays 100 percent medical and 80 percent dental. But she offers another reason why she has stayed so long: "I like the people that I work with." The four gathered around this table inside the VFW have been working together for many years and regularly meet after work. The shortest tenure among them is 22 years. Further, Johnson said her work on the assembly line is fairly easy and, considering that, her pay is good.

Ironically, Riordan, 45, has stayed for the stability. "I wanted to make a career of it," he said. The machinist has 23 years in at Honeywell and makes $152.88 for a day's work. Back at the Golden Valley plant on Douglas Drive, Honeywellers take a break on a bench outside as workers trickle in for duty. They crack jokes about discounts on GE appliances and free light bulbs, ultimately, it seems, an attempt to keep their spirits up. "I've worked for three companies and I haven't left the building," joked John Marshall, 46. He is a toolmaker who has raised three children during his more than 26 years at Honeywell. The third company he refers to is Alliant Techsystems, a Honeywell spinoff based in Hopkins. Workers map out scenarios "Been there. Done that," snaps Deb Corby, when asked her feelings about GE buying Honeywell. Corby has been at Honeywell for 22 years and works half of the time in the cafeteria, the other half in assembly. But along with the lighthearted banter, workers consider the possible scenarios. - Scenario No. 1: GE decides to lay off a portion of the Home and Building Control division. Colvin said he has been laid off three times and called back all three times. It's the nature of the business. A hard winter or a natural disaster will spike demand for the thermostats and controls they make and have them all working overtime. "This is not something new to us," he said. "This is Honeywell."

- Scenario No. 2: GE decides to close the division to focus on faster growing Honeywell units such as aerospace and electronic products. If GE closes their division, Corby said workers easily would be able to find better-paying jobs. The starting pay for production jobs at Honeywell is $9 an hour, not much in her book. "The economy is good," said Dale Bjornson, 42. He's been at Honeywell for 22 years and works as a second-shift press punch operator. He is confident he could easily find work elsewhere. "There are a lot of jobs out there." - Scenario No. 3: GE spins off Honeywell. The union contract has a "successor clause," which says in the event of a spinoff, the buyer would take on the union contract, said Holte, the union officer. Since most of the workers are older and near retirement, or as they call it on "death row", the biggest worry for the workers is losing their pension plans, Bjornson said. The uncertainty of GE's plans for Honeywell tied with the union contract expiring in February 2002 creates a big unknown. Holte said the pensions are as safe and secure as any pension. Alas, there's one more scenario: GE improves the workplace at Honeywell. Honeywell isn't the most blissful or benevolent of workplaces, according to many of the workers and Honeywell retirees. Not without problems In the past several years, union members challenged Honeywell's

"smarter, faster, stronger" slogan claiming working faster on the assembly line created safety concerns such as carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, in 1994, Honeywell agreed to settle a sex-discrimination lawsuit that stemmed from a 1974 investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor. The settlement involved 6,000 women who worked at Honeywell's Twin Cities facilities. Honeywell paid $6.5 million and invested $3 million to expand its diversity programs, but did not admit that it discriminated. What's more, according to many of the employees, the company hasn't been particularly generous; the company has never given Christmas bonuses, Johnson said. While GE officials didn't want to reveal production wages, benefits or perks, Gary Sheffer, a GE spokesman, said "GE benefits are among the best in the country" and its factories are among the safest in the world, designated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. All of GE's 32,000 U.S. production workers are unionized. The company has 197,000 workers in the United States and 340,000 employees worldwide. Honeywell workers are happier about the GE buyout than they've been about the AlliedSignal merger for a variety of reasons, including GE's reputation for strong financial performance. "It seems as long as you can make money for him [Welch], he's easy to get along with," Marshall said. The division is making money, about a 5 to 7 percent annual revenue growth. But whether that's good enough for GE remains to be seen. When it comes to making money, GE outperforms Honeywell. In 1999, GE scored $31,470 in net profits per employee, compared with $12,500 of net profits per employee for Honeywell. Also, the failure of AlliedSignal-Honeywell to hit its performance targets

soured workers on the deal because their stock in the company has lost value. Honeywell CEO Michael Bonsignore, who initiated the AlliedSignal-Honeywell deal and then shepherded the merger that moved Honeywell's headquarters from Minneapolis to Morristown, N.J., had promised 17 percent operating earnings growth for the combined company. Now GE is planning to close the headquarters and lay off 500 workers there. Never too old to imagine Perhaps worst of all, workers say under AlliedSignal they have been micromanaged, which has sparked an increasing lack of communication between workers and management. To cut costs, the past couple of years has been one "corporate fad" after another, Bjornson said. AlliedSignal brought "Six Sigma" to the table. Six Sigma, which is used at GE and is much-lauded in the corporate world, is a quality assurance process. On the shop floor, the workers experience a piece of Six Sigma called "build to order," the latest costcutting effort, which essentially eliminates inventory. "It doesn't mean a lot to us," Bjornson said. "If they say use it, we try it." The promotion process also frustrates workers. It used to be that floorlevel workers were promoted to supervisors, Bjornson said. Now, they bring in people from the outside who may have never worked in a machine shop. Marshall said another problem is with multi-layered management, it takes forever to get anything done. For example, to get a hammer replaced, he had to go up two levels of management for approval. As to the flow of company information, the workers say it doesn't flow. For instance, they said they knew nothing about the buyout beforehand.

"We didn't know about it until it hit the paper," Marshall said. Rumors had been floating about since mid-October. Bonsignore finally met with the Golden Valley shop Oct. 27, five days after the official announcement. Now as the Honeywell workers wind down their careers, they just hope for the best. Back at the VFW, they're not naive enough to envision a workplace like the good ol' days, but they're not too old to imagine an improved workplace. More optimistic still: "Maybe they can afford to pay us better," Riordan said. Sherri Cruz can be contacted at scruz@startribune.com Home and Building Control division - Business: Makes thermostats and other heating and cooling devices on 25 assembly lines at its Golden Valley plant - Headquarters: Minneapolis - 1999 sales: $6.1 billion - Profit share: $767 million - Profit margin: 12.5 percent - Employees: 2,400 in Twin Cities; 36,000 worldwide - Competitors: Johnson Controls, Emerson, Holmes, Alerton, Fireye, Carlin, S.I.T., Tyco, Trane, Invensys, Carrier, Landis-Siemens, ESCOs,

Cerberus, Simplex, STG, Hunter, Sunbeam, Windmere Honeywell 1999 sales mix for Automation and Asset Management unit - Home and Building Control Home and building products: 26% Home and building solutions and services: 32% - Industrial Control Industrial automation: 30% Sensing and control: 12% - Total sales: $6.1 billion