Resolution To Strike Only Received 49 Percent Of The Vote

A seven-year contract proposal offered by Cessna Aircraft to the International Association of Machinists in Wichita was ratified by default when a strike vote failed on Saturday.

When the votes were counted, 49 percent of the membership of the machinists union voted to strike against the company. Failure of the strike vote means that the contract is automatically accepted. That doesn't mean it's popular. The Wichita Eagle reports that 58 percent voted to reject the contract, but as union spokesman Steve Rooney told the paper after the vote was counted, "a paycheck is a hard thing to give up."

The union leadership had strongly urged its membership to reject the contract and go out on strike, which Bloomberg News reports would have been the first strike at Cessna since 1976. The union negotiators cited changes in the company's health care benefits, which become the same as the benefits offered to the company's non-union employees, as well as a four-year wage freeze and only modest raises for some employees in the final three years of the contract as reasons to reject it and strike. Union members also expressed a great deal of concern about job security in Wichita.

Cessna CEO Jack Pelton said in a statement released to the Eagle that he felt the contract was fair given the condition of the economy. “And while we are disappointed they rejected the offer, we appreciate the membership’s willingness to continue to put the customer first, knowing that will lead to success for all,” he said.

FMI: www.cessna.com