Breaking News Update: Machinists on Thursday afternoon approved Lockheed Martin's contract offer by a large margin, 1,873 to 447.
It's decision time for about 3,000 Machinists union members in Fort Worth who have been striking against Lockheed Martin.They can vote to go back to work after 10 weeks of missing paydays and not having health insurance, or they continue the walkout after their leaders warned against expecting a better contract offer.The members of District Lodge 776 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers will meet at 11 a.m. at Cowtown Coliseum in the Stockyards to vote on whether to ratify a revised contract offer from Lockheed.Negotiators for the union and Lockheed hammered out the proposed four-year agreement last week in four grueling days of meetings with a federal mediator.Union leaders have put themselves in the position of justifying why their members should accept a contract that does not contain a pension plan for new hires, a key provision over which the union recommended a strike. They had repeatedly said they would not accept the end of defined pension benefits for future employees."We'll explain and then we'll vote," union spokesman Robert Wood said. "It's in their hands."A number of workers interviewed said they expect the proposal to pass by a solid margin, but they predicted a significant "no" vote from union hard-liners.Key provisions:A four-year term instead of the standard three years.An immediate 3 percent increase in base pay, with raises of 2.5 percent in 2013 and 2014, and 3 percent in 2015.A signing bonus of $2,000, down from $3,000 in the original offer. There will also be an upfront cost-of-living payment of $1,600, half of which would otherwise have been paid in 2013. Workers can take an $1,800 lump sum instead of the first-year wage increase.Workers can elect to receive two weeks of previously earned vacation pay to help recoup wages lost during the strike.An additional health plan option with lower deductibles and out-of-pocket costs, a key change that union leaders describe as a significant improvement for many workers.Pension benefits for current employees are improved 14 percent over the current contract. Employees hired after the contract is approved will get a Lockheed-funded, union-sponsored 401(k) plan in addition to the company's regular 401(k) plan, in which the defense contractor matches a portion of their contributions.The contract covers some 3,300 Lockheed employees in Fort Worth, plus about 370 at Edwards Air Force Base in California and Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.About 300 workers in Fort Worth and 270 at the other locations have crossed the picket line since the strike began.The union voted overwhelmingly April 22 to reject the company's previous offer and went on strike the next day.Bob Cox, 817-390-7723Twitter: @bobcoxict