A major Fort Worth employer and its union workers are celebrating a new five-year, mutually beneficial contract now in effect.
Highly skilled workers at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. feel valued after about 5,000 members of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 776 ratified the contract, union representatives said.
The contract 鈥� which started on June 15 and continues until June 18, 2030 鈥� calls for wage increases between 4% and 6%, increased vacation time and no mandatory overtime schedules. It also includes a $6,000 bonus and retirement benefit improvements.
Lockheed Martin, which produces the military鈥檚 F-35 fighter jet aircraft at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, is ramping up production to fulfill for military aircraft and munitions.
Company officials negotiated with union representatives for about three months, a process that 鈥渨as not easy by any means,鈥� said Doyle Huddleston, IAM District 776 president and directing business representative.
鈥淭here was a lot of stress on both sides,鈥� he said, adding that recent strikes between other aerospace companies and large unions aided their cause.
Roxanne Schell, Lockheed Martin鈥檚 labor and employee relations director, said it was important to be good partners with the IAM union since it helps position the company to fulfill its government contracts.
鈥淚t was good. Tough negotiations, as usual,鈥� she said. 鈥淏oth parties (had) an interest in making improvements to the collective bargaining agreement.鈥�
The agreement also covers IAM members at Edwards Air Force Base in California and Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland as well as Lockheed Martin鈥檚 firefighters at the Fort Worth base.
鈥淭hat partnership and the longevity of that partnership 鈥� how we treat our employees with trust and respect on the day to day 鈥� helps influence how negotiations go,鈥� Schell said. 鈥淪ome can be tougher than others and none of them are easy, though. There鈥檚 always some issue that both parties aren鈥檛 quite seeing eye to eye on and that鈥檚 why we engage in collective bargaining. That鈥檚 the nature of the relationship.鈥�
For instance, F-35 aircraft assembly operation goes 24 hours a day. At one point, the contract draft included mandatory overtime for workers, a step that union representatives said would have hampered employees鈥� work-life balance.
The mandatory overtime proposal was quashed during negotiations, the union reps said.
Lockheed Martin's F-35 aircraft is assembled at a plant in Fort Worth. The jets are maintained at military repair depots across the U.S. (Courtesy | Liz Lutz, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.) Huddleston said most negotiations are hammered out in the final two or three weeks.
鈥淚n these particular negotiations, one of the things you have is a lot of job descriptions, job duties because they鈥檙e so advanced,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat is part of the process that makes it so lengthy.鈥�
Cory Bennett, IAM District 776 assistant directing business representative and chief of staff, said the union tried to 鈥渃over all the bases鈥� during the lengthy negotiations that also involved worker committees.
鈥淛ob jurisdiction here has been something that has been pretty contentious over time,鈥� Bennett said of the job descriptions the union wanted. 鈥淭hey went from having more than 70 job classifications to trying to dwindle them down back to having several. With the advancements and the technology on aircraft that they build, it鈥檚 just difficult to really dwindle those down. So we have several job descriptions that outline specific classes of work, which makes the process pretty tedious.鈥�
Lockheed Martin exceeded its for F-35 fighter jets by assembling 191 aircraft 鈥� about five times faster than any other allied fighter in production, officials previously said.
Schell said, in general, employees were interested in wage increases and wanted flexibility and increases in their benefits.
鈥淎s an employer, we want to make sure that we were able to be well-positioned to support defense contracts so wherever we could be affordable and remain agile and flexible in our business, those were priorities for us,鈥� Schell said. 鈥淗ow do we make sure we are putting as many productive hours on each aircraft as possible?鈥�
Schell said there鈥檚 always attention on what will be viewed as fair and equitable by the union membership but added that there is emphasis on 鈥渨hat is also going to be helping the business and our messaging to the customer as well.鈥�
Lockheed Martin wanted to reward its employees鈥� commitment to deliver defense aircraft while serving customers and national security needs, she said.
鈥淲ork stoppage is not good for anyone,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not good for the employees. It鈥檚 not good for the business or the war fighters, so being able to come to an agreement, we view that as really important to be able to support our defense contracts and fulfill those commitments. It does make a difference.鈥�
Huddleston said both parties knew negotiations would be difficult, given strikes by other aerospace workers.
鈥淭he union obviously was asking for substantial raises, and the company obviously doesn鈥檛 want to give them, but they knew they had to get a contract,鈥� he said, adding that wages were the top concern on a union survey.
Pay increases were key to negotiations as the U.S. economy worsens and Lockheed Martin鈥檚 government contracts accelerated.
鈥淭hat was by far the No. 1 issue,鈥� Huddleston said.
The contract also resulted in an increase in vacation time 鈥� the first time in decades that has occurred, the union representatives said.
Lockheed Martin鈥檚 skilled workers are 鈥渢he heartbeat of the factory鈥� and difficult to replace because of the advanced aircraft technology used to assemble F-35 jets, the union said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something the committee said several times at the table,鈥� Bennett said. 鈥淲e build the most sophisticated airframe in the world. It鈥檚 an airplane that flies in every critical mission the U.S. or our allies fly. We think the workforce is a direct reflection of that. The type of work these people do is specialized. We think we do some of the best work in the aerospace industry. We brought that to the table several times.鈥�
An agreement that benefits both parties was the ultimate goal of negotiations, Schell said.
鈥淚 think it is a two-way street,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he union worked really hard to advocate for the membership and what was important to them. So I think that鈥檚 an opportunity where employees feel like the union heard them and advocated for them. And they held us accountable as a company to hear what was important to the membership.鈥�
Schell said the negotiations showed the company is listening to employee concerns. That helps since the company has generally low attrition rates among its workers.
鈥淪o that improved the employee experience,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t helped people feel valued as they come into work. And that鈥檚 one component of what we can do on our day-to-day relationship as a leadership team and as a business, to show that we value their contributions.鈥�
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
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