The two-month long strike that has affected production at Lockheed Martin’s [LMT] F-35 plant in Fort Worth, Texas officially came to an end when the machinist union voted overwhelmingly to accept a new labor deal and return to work on Monday.
Negotiators representing Lockheed Martin and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) and Aerospace Workers District 776 agreed to the deal during four days of talks that concluded last weekend with the help of federal mediators.
The 3,600-member IAM voted and accepted the proposal by a margin of 80 percent, the union said on its website. “The picket lines have been taken down,” the website said.
Lockheed Martin said the four-year contract allows the employees to resume their roles in manufacturing, assembly and testing of F-35s and F-16s.
“With the new contract in place, we can continue concentrating on the critical requirements of our customers and our important mission of producing the world’s most advanced, highest quality combat aircraft at the Fort Worth facility,” Larry Lawson, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Aeronautics business area, said in a statement. “We’re pleased that the entire aeronautics team will be back in place and working together again on our important programs.”
Lockheed Martin said the package included general wage increases, cash payments, a choice of health plans, and other compensation and benefits.
The workers had been on strike since April 23, a day after the workers rejected a company proposal to offer new workers a defined contribution plan instead of the traditional defined benefit pension plan.
Lockheed Martin has said the labor dispute will not deter plans to deliver 30 F-35s this year, even though the production workforce at the plant has been at one-third its normal size since the strike began.
Lockheed Martin had kept the factory running with about 1,600 workers, most of whom are salaried employees in Fort Worth, as well as a contingent of temporary workers and 50 employees from other company locations to perform specialized tasks.