Machinists, Out 11 Days, Vote to OK Rohr Pact
Striking machinists at Rohr Industries plants in Riverside and Chula Vista voted overwhelmingly Thursday to accept the company’s most recent contract offer and return to work after 11 days on the picket lines.
The 4,500 members of the International Assn. of Machinists, at two mass meetings in San Diego and San Bernardino, voted by an 89% majority to accept the new terms reached by negotiators Wednesday. Rohr spokesman Dick Dalton said that machinists were scheduled to begin to report back to work for late Thursday night shifts. He said that today will be a “transition day” and by Monday, all plants should be back to normal.
Tom Hurd, business representative for union Local 755 in Chula Vista, said Rohr negotiators refused to grant amnesty to 10 workers arrested during picket line clashes last week at Riverside.
Fourteen Riverside picketers were arrested during the second day of the strike after five police officers were injured by rocks, bottles, a pellet gun and a steel ball bearing. Rohr spokesmen said that pictures were taken of the altercations at the Riverside plant and 10 people implicated will be fired when they report to work.
James Sprout, president of the Riverside Local 964, said the union will fight any firing of members through grievance procedures and through the courts. The union, he said, also has film showing assaults on pickets by company security personnel.
“There was fault on both sides,” Sprout said, “and I imagine this matter will be settled by our lawyers and theirs.”
Sprout said union officials recommended acceptance of the Rohr contract to membership at mass meetings held Thursday. He expressed some disappointment with contract terms that, he said, did not come up to industry standards.
The new three-year contract includes wage increases of 10% the first year and 6% in each of the two subsequent years. The first increase will be paid in April, company officials said.
Improvements in medical and dental benefits, life insurance and a $24-a-month pension increase also are included in the new terms. Before the new contract, salaries for machinists union members at Rohr averaged $26,000 a year without overtime pay.
Rohr is a major subcontractor for the aerospace industry giants, producing engine parts and other aircraft components, including parts for Grumman’s F-14 military aircraft. The company also manufactures rockets.
