Machinists

Spirit AeroSystems and its machinists union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 839) have reached a tentative contract agreement but not everyone is happy with it. Read - Tentative Contract Agreement The new contract would be for ten years. The proposal includes cost-of-living adjustments, a 1 percent wage increase in four of the 10 years, an early retirement option and increases in pensions.

Hawker Beechcraft machinists reject the company's contract offer. Fifty-five percent voted against the contract, 45 voted for it. The machinists' union voted Saturday at the Kansas Coliseum Pavilions. The vote did not include an authorization to strike, only whether to accept the contract. Hawker’s contract offer included a 10% cut in pay for union members, and an increase in health care costs. The vote came at a critical time for Hawker Beechcraft.

After more than three weeks on strike, Bombardier and the machinists union will start negotiating again. A federal mediator will be called in to help in those negotiations. Bombardier machinists have been on strike since voting against a contract offer around a month ago. "There are no winners when strikes go on, absolutely not, both parties are losers in it," says Art Veach, a retired federal mediator. He's worked in labor and management for almost three decades.  He says like other negotiations he's worked on, Bombardier and the Machinist Union will both have to come to the table and bargain.

The Bombardier machinists union strike has slowed traffic to a crawl in parts of west Wichita. Eyewitness News wanted to know if that has caused problems for other businesses in the area. Since the strike began, traffic has been backed up on Tyler from K-42 to Kellogg and Mid Continent Drive between Harry & Kellogg - especially during the morning commute. Traffic has snarled at times, leading police to warn drivers to stay off Tyler Rd. This has several businesses in the area concerned.

Saturday machinists will vote on whether to accept a new contract offer and go back to work at Bombardier.  Machinists have been on strike for a month. With the help of a federal mediator, the two sides reached an agreement.  The main issue in the first contract was health care costs. The union says under the latest contract offer, the employees share of their health insurance premium went from 30% to 15% with a wellness program. "The main improvements to the company proposal were related to health care," said Machinists Union Spokesman Bob Wood.

(WICHITA, Kan.) The struggling economy and government bailout of big banks has caught the attention of some striking Boeing machinists. The workers voted to hit the picket line three weeks ago, and strikers say they had no clue of the problems to come on Wall Street. Machinists agree it's not a good time to essentially be jobless, but they wouldn't change their vote to strike if given the chance. "If you've been in the aircraft business for any amount of time, you know to save whatever you can," says Raymond Cook.

by Alana Rocha (WICHITA, Kan.) The school supply aisles are packed around town as students prepare to start the new year. It's a costly process for any parent. For those on strike at Hawker-Beechcraft it's a matter of finding, and in some cases borrowing the money. For the do family, school starts Monday. Hai Do and his wife, Vanessa Nguyen stocked up on all their supplies a couple of weeks ago. Nguyen says, "We prepared before strike. We knew, we think maybe everybody strike so we prepared before to be ready.

The strike at Bombardier is causing traffic headaches for drivers.  One woman spent four and a half hours in her car waiting to get into work at Bombardier. Click to See Photos from Picket Line She waited because the machinists on strike were stopping every car entering the facility. They would spend 30-40 seconds with each car causing traffic to back up for miles. After awhile, police asked they limit it to ten seconds to avoid major delays.  The union members agreed.

by Cliff Judy (WICHITA, Kan.) Neither side is talking.  After nearly five days of the Hawker Beechcraft strike, the chief negotiator for the workers says there's been no contact between the company and the machinists union, and no date has been set for negotiations to begin. Outside the Hawker Beechcraft gates, workers shout what has essentially become the battle cry for both sides. "One day longer!" yells Robert Hammons, whose voice is well beyond hoarse. With the strike nearing the end of its first week, Eyewitness News wanted to look at past strikes in Wichita and what happens the longer this one lasts.

One day after Cessna announces 700 additional layoffs, Eyewitness News is looking at the future of another aviation company. For months, Hawker Beechcraft has made no secret it's exploring the idea of moving to a new, more affordable area. In July, Hawker officials confirmed it was looking at Mississippi and Louisiana. Now, multiple sources tell FactFinder 12 the focus has turned to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This summer, the Southern Business & Development website published an article saying Hawker made a deal to move to Louisiana.