The Nation - News from June 8, 1987

About 3,100 production and maintenance workers at Bell Helicopter Textron in Fort Worth went on strike today after overwhelmingly rejecting a contract proposal. Members of United Auto Workers union Local 218 voted 2,131 to 177 against the three-year contract offered by Bell to replace the old contract that expired at midnight Sunday, the union said. The dispute reportedly centers on lump sum wage payments versus hourly payments.