Spirit AeroSystems, Machinists union plan to resume contract talks on first day of strike
Contract negotiations between Spirit AeroSystems and the Machinists union will resume Saturday, the same day 6,000 union-represented workers go on strike.
Bargaining will be overseen by a federal mediator.
“As has been our focus throughout these negotiations, we want to provide our IAM-represented employees a fair-and-competitive contract,” CEO Tom Gentile said in a Friday news release. “We are committed to reaching an agreement with Local 839 as quickly as possible for our employees.
“I am proud of our Spirit employees. They are part of a bright future for this company, and I look forward to building that future together.”
The previous contract proposal, which Spirit called its “best and final offer” last week, was rejected with 79% of the vote Wednesday. Eighty-five percent of voting union members favored a strike.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers negotiating committee that unanimously recommended the contract proposal for approval has begun polling members to determine which specific provisions they want to see enhanced.
“The bottom line is, our membership spoke. We respect their decision, and we will try to determine what we need to do to get a contract ratified with Spirit,” Rickey Wallace, IAM’s general vice president of the southern territory, said Thursday.
The union set up a mobile strike headquarters at K-15 and MacArthur, and Spirit has erected mesh netting around its campus.
