End of strike deal in sight for Lockheed
LOCKHEED Martin, the Pentagon’s number one supplier by sales, said it had reached a tentative deal with a union that has been on strike for eight weeks at a Fort Worth, Texas, assembly plant for its F-16 and F-35 fighter aircraft.
A bargaining committee of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers will recommend that union members accept a revised labour contract offer at a ratification vote this week, the company said in a statement yesterday.
The union, known as the IAM, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It represents about 3,600 striking Lockheed employees at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, as well as in Fort Worth.
Terms of the tentative deal were not disclosed. The agreement was announced after meetings Wednesday through Saturday facilitated by the US Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Members of the IAM rejected the company’s previous offer on 22 April and went on strike a few days later.