Federal mediators are continuing to meet with union members and company officials in an effort to end the four-day old strike that's grounded some flight operations at Fort Rucker.
Representatives from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services met with members of Machinists Union Local Lodge 2003 negotiating committee Tuesday and L3 Army Fleet Support negotiators the next day. Almost 3,000 machinists union members walked off the job Monday at Fort Rucker over issues including working conditions, seniority rights and overtime procedures.
L-3 Communications wants to lock the machinists into a fixed 5-year contract, the machinists are standing firm on 3 years.
In the past, union contracts have held to a three year term rather than the current five year proposal. L3 Communications may be trying to lock their workers into a longer term agreement as the Army looks forward to downsizing the rotary wing fleet and changing training platforms from the current TH-67 Creek helicopter to LUH-72 Lakota. This transition will undoubtedly cause changes in the maintenance and upkeep programs of their workhorse training aircraft, as well as setting new qualification requirements for aircraft mechanics who would be locked into a 5 year contract. Even cell phone companies don’t force that on their customers.
The US military runs a 24-7 operation and often flies at night, so aircraft maintainers must frequently work extra hours to keep the fleet flying. The current overtime program has been in place for over 50 years and is well accepted by the workforce.
The proposed changes in the overtime policy are also a major source of friction between the L3 and the IAMAW ... In particular, critics of the contract pointed to the way that overtime rosters would be developed and implemented. These changes were seen as being far less equitable, stripping away some of the benefits of seniority and potentially allowing supervisors to play favorites.