June, 2009 - Nearly 800 members of Local 898 at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, OK are returning to work after ratifying a new three-year contract ending a fourteen-day strike against CSC Applied Technologies and three other contractors at the base.
“We had most of our strike issues addressed,” said Aerospace Coordinator John Crowdis. The contract includes larger raises, 3.75 percent in each year, a 60-cent increase in the IAM Pension Plan (the original proposal had no pension increase), improved health-care costs, and improved Personal Time Off usage language. “We’ve fixed most of the things we struck over.”
The contract was approved by a 78 percent margin. Just two weeks ago, the members voted 94 percent to strike. “We went out together, and 99 percent of the membership walked the picket lines,” said District 171 Directing Business Representative Jerry McCune. “And now, we’re going back in together with a contract we can be proud of.”
“Our members that stood together throughout this ordeal deserve all the credit,” said Southern Territory GVP Bob Martinez. “The overwhelming solidarity showed by Local Lodge 898 made this strike both short and successful. When you have solid support from the membership, you can do great things.”
