Fri, Jun 15, 2007
Union Rejects Contract By 93 Percent Margin
Representatives with the International Association of Machinist
and Aerospace Workers tell ANN members of Local Lodge 2061 and
District 166, who perform Space Shuttle support duties for the
United Space Alliance (USA), walked off their jobs Thursday after
USA management proposed what the union considered to be a
substandard contract offer.
"The United Space Alliance refused to change the offer," said
Local 2061 President Lew Jamieson. "We did everything we could to
come to an agreement. Enough is enough -- we won’t accept a
substandard contract."
As ANN reported earlier this
month, union members voted to reject a contract offer
by a 93 percent margin and authorize a strike on June 2.
At the end of a five-day cooling off period, a federal mediator
called both sides back to the bargaining table... but when the
company offer remained unchanged, the negotiating committee quickly
called the strike.
To cover the effects of the strike, USA states it was
implementing a strike plan, including reassignment of workers to
other duties to cover striking workers, as well as hiring
"subcontractors" as replacement workers, company spokeswowan Tracey
Yates told Florida Today.
One group of workers won't be on the picket line right away:
those who prepare landing sites for the space shuttle. Those
members agreed to forestall striking until Atlantis is back on the
ground; the shuttle is currently scheduled to land June 21.
USA is a joint venture formed by Lockheed Martin and Boeing to
provide launch services to NASA.
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