Members of Local 839 in Wichita, KS, will vote June 25 on a tentative agreement that has the potential to reshape labor relations throughout the aerospace industry. The proposed 10-year agreement for 6,000 members employed at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, provides unprecedented levels of job security in an industry that is still reeling from a severe and ongoing recession.
In addition to long-term job security, the tentative agreement includes pension improvements and locks-in health insurance costs while providing for additional pay increases that are linked to company performance.
The tentative agreement won the unanimous recommendation of the Local 839 Bargaining Committee, who cited job security as the number one issue identified by members in pre-negotiation surveys.
“It has been a long, tough, strenuous negotiating process, but we are bringing to the membership a tentative agreement that stems the tide of outsourcing and job offshoring,” said the committee in a letter to members. “Our proposed agreement ensures that Spirit will remain a strong and viable company, able to compete in the world market and bring home new contracts.”
“It all starts with a job,” declared IAM President Tom Buffenbarger at a joint meeting last March with IAM representatives and Spirit management. “Without a job, the highest pay and the best benefits are worthless.”
Tue. June 29, 2010
10 YEARS is way too long for a contract, Almost a life time .Tue. June 29, 2010
I am in the local 839. This is a historic occasion, passing a contract so large and useless to the membership. It actualy laughs in the face of everything the Union has fought for, and strives for this very day. I will await my seniority date, And I will get out of this Union. I will actually gain more on this contract by chucking the Union, and keeping my dues to myself, as this contract is a joke. I and Many Many other Union members are planning the same. This IS historic! the Contract that has busted this Local. Sad to see it go, But It figures, as all the negotiators are in the company\'s Pocket. Lets see what the membership looks like after 9 years of stagnant if not falling membership.Fri. June 25, 2010
I don\\\'t work in the local so I really don\\\'t have any right to pass any judgements, but it seems this is a brilliant accord on both sides. The union doesn\\\'t want to be played for a sucker, should airline prosperity rebound, and the company doesn\\\'t want to have to tell customers it\\\'s going to be late because of a labor dispute..and most importantly is the quote from Buffenbarger, \\\"It all starts with a job.\\\" Knowing this fundamental, both sides can go forth knowing that the other is not the \\\"enemy\\\", but that the \\\"enemy\\\" is the emerging aerospace capability of Japan and China.