Union Told to Cancel Lockheed Strike

A federal labor mediation agency ordered a union representing nearly 1,850 machinists at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works plant to cancel a planned strike. Members of the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at facilities in Palmdale and Marietta, Ga., had been scheduled to strike at 12:01 a.m. this morning after rejecting a three-year contract proposal that would increase wages 3% a year. Machinists were angered by a $5 hike in medical co-payments and wanted a better pension plan. The union complied with the order by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and pushed back the strike deadline to 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Talks are scheduled to resume Monday. The Palmdale plant performs maintenance on the F-117 stealth fighter and the U-2 spy plane.