Production of f-16 fighter planes resumed at General Dynamics Corp.’s Fort Worth, TX, plant after members of the Machinists unionratified a 3-year contract to end a 2-week strike.
Under the contract,the 6,400 workers will receive annual bonuses in the first and secondcontract years each equal to 4 percent of their earnings during thepreceding 12 months, followed by a 4-percent pay increase in the finalyear. Other terms included continuation of the provision for automaticquarterly cost-of-living pay adjustments; an increase in the pensionrate to $16 (from $14) a month for each year of credited serviceeffective immediately and $18 on August 1, 1986, applicable to allworkers retiring after the effective date of the contract; a 12th annualpaid holiday; improved medical and dental benefits, including a freegeneric prescription drug program; and a new joint committee todetermine training and job changes needed to implement changes intechnology. Lump-sum payments in lieu of wage increases also were a feature ofa settlement between Martin Marietta Corp. and the Auto Workers for3,500 workers in Denver, Baltimore, and Orlando (FL).
In the first yearof the 3-year contract, workers will receive a payment equal to 4.5percent of their earnings during the preceding 12 months, followed by asecond-year payment of 3.5 percent of earnings, and a third-yearspecified wage increase of 3 percent.
