Company officials negotiated with union representatives for about three months, a process that \u201cwas not easy by any means,\u201d said Doyle Huddleston, IAM District 776 president and directing business representative.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of stress on both sides,\u201d he said, adding that recent strikes between other aerospace companies and large unions aided their cause.<\/p>\n
Roxanne Schell, Lockheed Martin\u2019s labor and employee relations director, said it was important to be good partners with the IAM union since it helps position the company to fulfill its government contracts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was good. Tough negotiations, as usual,\u201d she said. \u201cBoth parties (had) an interest in making improvements to the collective bargaining agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
The agreement also covers IAM members at Edwards Air Force Base in California and Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland as well as Lockheed Martin\u2019s firefighters at the Fort Worth base.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat partnership and the longevity of that partnership \u2014 how we treat our employees with trust and respect on the day to day \u2014 helps influence how negotiations go,\u201d Schell said. \u201cSome can be tougher than others and none of them are easy, though. There\u2019s always some issue that both parties aren\u2019t quite seeing eye to eye on and that\u2019s why we engage in collective bargaining. That\u2019s the nature of the relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
For instance, F-35 aircraft assembly operation goes 24 hours a day. At one point, the contract draft included mandatory overtime for workers, a step that union representatives said would have hampered employees\u2019 work-life balance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The mandatory overtime proposal was quashed during negotiations, the union reps said.<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/FP161074-0323_PR-1024x683.jpg\")
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 aircraft is assembled at a plant in Fort Worth. The jets are maintained at military repair depots across the U.S. (Courtesy | Liz Lutz, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.)<\/p>\n
Huddleston said most negotiations are hammered out in the final two or three weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn these particular negotiations, one of the things you have is a lot of job descriptions, job duties because they\u2019re so advanced,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is part of the process that makes it so lengthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cory Bennett, IAM District 776 assistant directing business representative and chief of staff, said the union tried to \u201ccover all the bases\u201d during the lengthy negotiations that also involved worker committees.<\/p>\n
\u201cJob jurisdiction here has been something that has been pretty contentious over time,\u201d Bennett said of the job descriptions the union wanted. \u201cThey went from having more than 70 job classifications to trying to dwindle them down back to having several. With the advancements and the technology on aircraft that they build, it\u2019s just difficult to really dwindle those down. So we have several job descriptions that outline specific classes of work, which makes the process pretty tedious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lockheed Martin exceeded its 2025 production goal<\/a> for F-35 fighter jets by assembling 191 aircraft \u2014 about five times faster than any other allied fighter in production, officials previously said.<\/p>\n Schell said, in general, employees were interested in wage increases and wanted flexibility and increases in their benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an employer, we want to make sure that we were able to be well-positioned to support defense contracts so wherever we could be affordable and remain agile and flexible in our business, those were priorities for us,\u201d Schell said. \u201cHow do we make sure we are putting as many productive hours on each aircraft as possible?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Schell said there\u2019s always attention on what will be viewed as fair and equitable by the union membership but added that there is emphasis on \u201cwhat is also going to be helping the business and our messaging to the customer as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Lockheed Martin wanted to reward its employees\u2019 commitment to deliver defense aircraft while serving customers and national security needs, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWork stoppage is not good for anyone,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not good for the employees. It\u2019s not good for the business or the war fighters, so being able to come to an agreement, we view that as really important to be able to support our defense contracts and fulfill those commitments. It does make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Huddleston said both parties knew negotiations would be difficult, given strikes by other aerospace workers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe union obviously was asking for substantial raises, and the company obviously doesn\u2019t want to give them, but they knew they had to get a contract,\u201d he said, adding that wages were the top concern on a union survey.<\/p>\n Pay increases were key to negotiations as the U.S. economy worsens and Lockheed Martin\u2019s government contracts accelerated.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was by far the No. 1 issue,\u201d Huddleston said.<\/p>\n The contract also resulted in an increase in vacation time \u2014 the first time in decades that has occurred, the union representatives said.<\/p>\n Lockheed Martin\u2019s skilled workers are \u201cthe heartbeat of the factory\u201d and difficult to replace because of the advanced aircraft technology used to assemble F-35 jets, the union said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something the committee said several times at the table,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cWe build the most sophisticated airframe in the world. It\u2019s an airplane that flies in every critical mission the U.S. or our allies fly. We think the workforce is a direct reflection of that. The type of work these people do is specialized. We think we do some of the best work in the aerospace industry. We brought that to the table several times.\u201d<\/p>\n An agreement that benefits both parties was the ultimate goal of negotiations, Schell said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it is a two-way street,\u201d she said. \u201cThe union worked really hard to advocate for the membership and what was important to them. So I think that\u2019s an opportunity where employees feel like the union heard them and advocated for them. And they held us accountable as a company to hear what was important to the membership.\u201d<\/p>\n Schell said the negotiations showed the company is listening to employee concerns. That helps since the company has generally low attrition rates among its workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo that improved the employee experience,\u201d she said. \u201cIt helped people feel valued as they come into work. And that\u2019s one component of what we can do on our day-to-day relationship as a leadership team and as a business, to show that we value their contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n