Lockheed workers to vote Thursday on new contract

(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp workers who build the F-16 and F-35 fighter planes voted on Thursday to accept a new labor contract that would provide yearly pay increases of 2.5 percent to 3 percent and bonus payments, their union said. The vote ends a nine-week strike by more than 3,600 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union in Texas, California and Maryland. Bob Wood, a spokesman for District Lodge 776 of the union, said the Lockheed labor accord was approved by an 80 percent margin. ...

Striking workers from the Fort Worth, Texas, plant where Lockheed Martin Corp builds F-16 and F-35 fighter planes will vote on Thursday on whether to accept a new contract agreed by a key union and management ...

(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp said on Saturday it had negotiated new contracts with two smaller unions at its Fort Worth, Texas plant, even as a strike by the larger machinists union stretched into a fifth week. Lockheed said about 70 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) on Friday ratified a new contract that would extend for four years. On Saturday, a new five-year contract was approved by 430 members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU). Both agreements take effect on Monday. ...

(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp , the Pentagon's biggest supplier, and a union representing more than 3,600 workers, said on Monday they had agreed to meet federal mediators to try to settle a strike that began more than eight weeks ago. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) said the two sides would meet in Fort Worth, Texas, from Wednesday for mediated bargaining sessions with officials from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. ...

(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp , the Pentagon's biggest supplier, and a union representing over 3,600 workers, on Monday said they would meet starting Wednesday with federal mediators to try to settle a strike that began just over eight weeks ago. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) said the two sides would meet in Fort Worth, Texas starting on Wednesday for mediated bargaining sessions with officials from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp , the Pentagon's top supplier by sales, began using temporary workers on Thursday in place of striking employees at its plant in Fort Worth, Texas, to help meet scheduled deliveries of F-16 and F-35 fighter jets. Fewer than 10 temporary workers, hired through a contractor, were brought in to supplement the "contingency work force" that includes managers, said Lockheed spokesman Joe Stout. Another 50 to 60 temporary workers will be added on Tuesday, and the company will bring in more as needed, Stout said in an email. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp , under intense pressure from the Pentagon to reduce labor and pension costs, said on Thursday it would hire more temporary workers to maintain production at its Fort Worth, Texas, plant, where a key union has been on strike for eight weeks, mainly over future pension benefits. Lockheed spokesman Joe Stout said the company had hired almost 300 temporary workers already, and had borrowed about 50 non-union workers from other sites in Texas, Georgia, California and South Carolina for welding and other specific jobs. ...