LEXINGTON PARK, Md. -- Outside Gate 2 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, a group of striking machinists finish their picketing along the town's main road to go to Linda's Cafe, a homey place with a Texas owner, for coffee.
In this rural, conservative part of southern Maryland 60 miles southeast of Washington, D.C., the naval base and its aviation testing facilities dominate the local economy. So for there to be a militant labor contingent out on the street seems out of place.It's a little-noticed subset of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers strike at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, now 9 weeks old.Among the 3,600 striking machinists, most in Tarrant County, there are about 170 workers at Pax River, as it is known, as well as about 200 at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the two testing centers for the F-35.The Pax River strikers have been especially active, taking advantage of their proximity to Washington to sometimes picket Lockheed Martin's headquarters in Bethesda, Md. -- and, they hope, draw attention to their issues as well as embarrass the bosses.Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Jennifer Whitlow said, however, that "we respect their right to do peaceful informational picketing."The strikers are upping the ante in other ways, too, by moving pickets to the base's very public Gate 2 in addition to Gate 3, located well off the main road, which the base commander, Capt. Ted Mills, designated for their use."Now we're keeping them on their toes," said Gilbert Torres, the union's chief shop steward for Lockheed Martin at Pax River. As long as the strikers keep their informational picketing across the street from the gates, they can't be moved.The Navy is not taking sides. "This is a corporate matter, and the Navy's staying out of it," Pax River base spokesman Gary Younger said.The weeks have taken their toll with only 75 to 80 of the original 170 workers still on strike, others having crossed the picket line to return to work.The strikers who remain say they are in it to the end. One may lose his house by month's end, and all are looking for new jobs -- one hopes to become a state trooper.The Machinists union's national training center is providing box lunches and dinner four nights a week."It's been tough not having any income," said Rick Bertele, a striker and a single father."The reasons we're out here are pensions and affordable healthcare."Union members rejected Lockheed's final contract offer, which included 3 percent annual raises and a $3,000 signing bonus but also higher-priced health plan choices and no traditional pension for new hires.Greg Collins, who is on strike although his wife, Donna, needs medications for multiple sclerosis, had a retail job for a day until the employer realized he was a striker who would not stay long. Now Collins is worried about losing his home."I have until the end of the month," he said, citing a $2,800 property tax bill that's due.The strikers say the reaction to their being on strike is mixed, even from their own families.Rob Salerno said that when he told his sister-in-law about the strike during a visit to Pennsylvania, he said she turned on him and said, "I hope you lose."He ate quickly and left.And it's not any easier in southern Maryland."Most locals say, 'You shouldn't be on strike,'" said Salerno, though his church has helped him with housework and splitting logs."I'm probably one of the most fortunate," he said, since he can rely on a disability check from an injury during military service in Iraq.Cafe owner Linda Palchinsky, who has owned the restaurant for 24 years, once saw the strikers out at 5:30 a.m. in a pouring rain."They must really believe in what they're doing," she said.Maria Recio is the Star-Telegram's Washington bureau chief. 202-383-6103, mrecio@mcclatchydc.comTwitter: @Maria_E_Recio