Convair Machinists Reject Pay, Pension Offers, Vote to Strike

Union machinists voted to strike the Convair Division of General Dynamics at midnight Saturday after rejecting a contract offered by the company earlier in the day.

The contract rejection and strike vote came as no surprise because International Assn. of Machinist and Aerospace Workers officials Wednesday had recommended a rejection of the contract and a strike.

About 4,000 machinists work at Convair on various defense projects--including the Tomahawk cruise missile and Atlas rocket--and on commercial programs such as the DC-10 fuselage that is subcontracted by McDonnell-Douglas.

Union officials rejected Convair’s wage and pension offers as inadequate. Convair negotiators offered lump-sum pay increases that would total $4,800 over the three years of the proposed contract.

The company also offered pension benefits of $23 per month per year of service at the end of the contract. Union officials objected that the lump-sum proposals were being offered without a general wage increase and that the pension offer falls short of the $24 negotiated at Rohr Industries and the $26 at Lockheed.

Union officials told members to expect a strike that could last two months. A machinists’ strike at Convair three years ago lasted two weeks. Convair machinists are represented by Lodge 1125.