IAM members have voted to accept an offer from Triumph Composite Systems, of Spokane, WA, that will end a strike that began on Friday. The workers had voted last week to reject the company offer, and authorized the strike.
Negotiators for the Machinists union and for Triumph Composite Systems Inc. reached a tentative agreement early Monday to end the strike, the union said in a news release.
Workers began voting on the offer Monday, said union spokeswoman Connie Kelliher. Details were not being released, and officials for Triumph declined to comment to The Associated Press.
Members of the 371-person unit struck Friday over wages and benefits. Talks to end the strike began Sunday afternoon. Kelliher said the main issues included a big disparity in wages between new hires and older workers. "We want more money for new hires," she said, while declining to provide details until after the vote. Union officials said the dispute also involves wages of former Boeing workers who were on layoff when Triumph acquired the plant.
The current starting wage for production mechanics is $11.56 an hour with step increases to $22.01 per hour, according to a job listing Triumph posted this week on a state employment Web page. The Spokane Economic Development Council said the average hourly wage for manufacturing in Spokane is $17.21.
Triumph makes floor panels for Boeing and Airbus planes, and purchased the plant from Boeing in February 2003. It has grown from 243 to 371 union workers.
Tom Wroblewski, president of Machinists District Lodge 751 in Seattle, said employees took 15 percent pay cuts to keep their jobs when Triumph took over.
The company has said that its offer represents a 17.4 percent increase in wages and benefits over the life of the contract and a 28 percent increase since it bought the plant in 2003.
