Waterford — Defender Industries and unionized warehouse workers who last summer staged a strike against the boating-equipment supplier have agreed to a first-ever contract, officials for both sides confirmed Monday.

Stephan Lance, the company's president, said the four-year contract has been “officially ratified” and was in the process of being signed. He said the contract would apply to 29 warehouse workers represented by Local 493 of the Teamsters union.

The warehouse workers had voted to affiliate with the Uncasville-based local in November 2014.

“We succeeded in reaching a hard-fought contract,” said Tom Schlink, Local 493’s secretary-treasurer. He declined to comment further. Details on pay raises were not provided.

The workers staged a strike Sept. 4, picketing outside Defender’s main entrance on Great Neck Road. Strike participants complained publicly about a company discipline policy that they regarded as too strict and said led to firings following the union vote. Wages were also a point of contention.

Lance said Monday that some of the strikers returned to work the day after the strike began and that about 70 percent of them came back “within three to four days.” He said more eventually returned and that “some chose not to return.”

He said the discipline policy was not an issue during contract negotiations.

“So I don’t know how concerned about it (discipline) they could have been if it didn’t come up in yearlong bargaining discussions,” Lance said.

Founded in New York City in 1938, Defender, a family-owned business, moved to Waterford from New Rochelle, N.Y., in 1996. In Waterford, its 110,000-square-foot warehouse includes an outlet store.

Defender employs 126 people during peak business periods, according to Lance. Currently, it has 112 workers, incudling part-timers. The warehouse workers are the only ones affiliated with a union.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck