Lockheed Martin strike continues

MARIETTA - Larry Edge had been at his post on the picket line outside the Lockheed Martin aircraft assembly plant for nearly seven hours Monday, but he wasn&#39;t ready to leave. <br> <br> Edge, from Covington, which is about an hour drive to Marietta, says he was on line since 4:30 in the morning and was staying until 4 p.m., doing a double shift. <br> <br> Machinists began picketing at 12:01 a.m. Monday morning at the plant&#39;s gates in Marietta, citing a lack of job security. Members of the International Association of Machinists Local 709 turned down a three-year contract proposal Sunday that would have raised wages ten percent and provided workers with $1,000 signing bonuses. <br> <br> Seventy-eight percent of union members in Marietta rejected the company&#39;s final offer, and 82 percent voted to strike. This is the first strike at the plant in 25 years. <br> <br> Union workers at the Lockheed Martin aircraft assembly plant near Clarksburg, West Virginia also hit the picket lines. Fifty-seven of the plant&#39;s 68 workers were off the job, essentially shutting down the assembly line. Those who reported to work are salaried. <br> <br> Dozens of machinists at the Lockheed Martin plant in Meridian, Mississippi, also walked off their jobs Monday. Joyce Williams, president of the local union, said Meridian employees voted to accept the company&#39;s latest contract offer, but still are striking to support the 2,700 union workers in Marietta. <br> <br> Lockheed officials avoided a walkout at plants in Sunnyvale and Palmdale, California, when union workers ratified agreements Sunday and employees at both plants were back at work Monday. <br> <br> The Marietta plant produces F-22 Raptor fighters and C-130J transport planes. Members of Local 709 make up more than a third of the 7,000 Lockheed workers in Marietta. Lockheed Martin is the nation&#39;s largest defense contractor.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/3/197646