Settlement Approved By Judge Thursday

Far exceeding the customary expectations of workers at a bankrupt company, a federal bankruptcy judge in New York on Thursday approved a settlement that preserves pension benefits for more than 3,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) at Hawker Beechcraft Corp. (HBC) in Wichita, KS.

In addition to preserving pension benefits for current IAM members at HBC, the union also negotiated a new defined contribution pension plan while guaranteeing the continuation of an existing 401(k) savings plan and maintaining pension benefits for retired IAM members.

“Preventing the termination of a defined benefit pension for thousands of active and retired workers at a bankrupt company is a remarkable, but all too infrequent outcome,” said IAM President Tom Buffenbarger. “It is a credit to both sides of the bargaining table that workers’ interests at Hawker were given the respect they deserve.”

The IAM represents more than 3,000 active and laid off workers at Hawker Beechcraft and is one of the largest industrial trade unions in North America, representing nearly 100,000 aerospace workers among 700,000 active and retired members in dozens of industries.

FMI: www.goiam.org