Lockheed workers could walk out Sunday

Contracts between Lockheed Martin Corp. and three of its unions expire this weekend, and a strike is possible Sunday night if no agreement is reached.<br><br>The contract for office staff and electricians

Friday, April 7th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Contracts between Lockheed Martin Corp. and three of its unions expire this weekend, and a strike is possible Sunday night if no agreement is reached.

The contract for office staff and electricians at Lockheed's Fort Worth plant expires at midnight Friday, and the contracts for firefighters and production line workers expire 48 hours later. The contract for security guards is good until May 21.

Negotiations will continue through Sunday, when the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers - the powerful group that represents production workers - will vote on the company's final offer. Union members will also vote whether to strike at midnight if the offer is rejected.

The other unions are expected to go along with the machinists if they walk out.
The talks in Fort Worth - where Lockheed's F-16 is built - have focused on retirement issues. The average worker at Lockheed's Fort Worth Aeronautics Division is 49 and has 20 years of seniority because of defense industry downsizing and layoffs that eliminated many younger employees, the machinists' union says.

"If a company has an older workforce, retirement is a key issue," said Gary Chaison, a professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. "A younger workforce usually wants cash."

Other issues under discussion are wages and protection against subcontracting.

Subcontracting has been a key issue in most industries because of concerns about job security as companies cut costs, said Bill Upton, a spokesman in the machinists' union headquarters.

A strike would add to Lockheed Martin's struggles. Lackluster earnings and slow foreign orders have strained the Bethesda, Md.-based defense company, which needs to keep the fighter jet production lines moving.
The deals hammered out by the different unions are usually similar in content, although the machinists' union has carried the most weight at the bargaining table. With 2,000 members, the machinists' Local 776 in Fort Worth has about twice as many people as the other four unions combined.

The company and unions have declined to comment specifically on the negotiations and are holding details of contract offers and wish lists close to their chests.

"We have agreed with the unions that negotiations will be conducted at the bargaining table, not through public discussions," Lockheed spokesman Joe Stout said. "Therefore, we won't comment on specifics on the process."

The decision to work outside of the public eye is a good sign that the two sides will reach a deal, Mr. Chaison said.

"When they're talking to each other," he said, "they're not talking to the public."

The low-profile talks are in sharp contrast to Lockheed Martin's competitor Boeing Co., which earlier this year weathered a 40-day strike by engineers and technical workers.
"That was really a battle fomented by the unions," said defense analyst Paul Nisbet, president of JSA Research. "I think they were making a statement."

Talks haven't been this calm in recent years for Lockheed Martin, although the company has been able to avoid work stoppages.

A strike was narrowly averted last year at Lockheed Martin's Marietta, Ga., and Palmdale, Calif., plants. A walkout was planned when federal mediators stepped in and ordered machinists to meet with the company.

Three years ago, Fort Worth machinists took a hard line, and union members authorized a strike. Ultimately, the union accepted the contract offer because of the increase in monthly pension benefits.

Lockheed Martin also was able to avoid a strike in 1996 by 4,800 machinists at plants in Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and West Virginia by dropping plans to outsource 67 janitorial and maintenance jobs.