**Mediators offer help on Lockheed**\
\
By [DAVE HIRSCHMAN](mailto:dhirschman@ajc.com)\
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution\
Published on: 03/03/05

Federal mediators trying to avert a machinists strike at Lockheed
Martin\'s Marietta plant are offering their services to both sides in
the labor dispute.

\"Anytime there\'s a possibility of a work stoppage that could have this
much impact on the economy and national defense, it\'s on our radar
screen,\" said Jack Buettner, regional director for the Federal
Conciliation and Mediation Service.

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| height="2.25in"}                                                  |   |
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| Lockheed Martin                                                   |   |
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| [(ENLARGE)]                                                       |   |
| (http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/0305/00E00500.html) |   |
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| The F/A-22 Raptor fighter is made at Lockheed Martin\'s Marietta  |   |
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| |   **From the Stacks archive**[More articles on               |  |   |
| |   Lockheed.](htt                                             |  |   |
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\"We\'re talking with the union and management --- but we have no
enforcement power. The ultimate decision rests with the parties.\"

A walkout at the plant that produces F/A-22 Raptor fighters and C-130J
Hercules transports could begin as early as Tuesday.

Last Sunday members of International Association of Machinists Local 709
rejected a tentative agreement that would have raised their wages 10
percent over three years and given \$1,500 signing bonuses.

Members opposed to the pact said they object to increases in health care
costs and cuts in retirement benefits for new workers.

Plant management has said it won\'t make any new offers.

The labor strife comes as the Pentagon pursues deep cuts in both the
Raptor and the Hercules programs. Aerospace analysts say a prolonged
strike could lead to the early cancellation of both programs and end
manufacturing at the 7,800-worker plant, which has pumped out warplanes
since World War II.

In the short term, the economic impact of an IAM strike in Marietta
would be muted by the fact that other Lockheed employees would keep
working. IAM Local 709 represents about 2,800 workers, and the plant\'s
remaining 5,000 engineers, administrators and technicians expect to stay
on the job.

When the IAM struck for 49 days in 2002, Lockheed brought in hundreds of
nonunion contractors, and managers performed some assembly line work.

Marietta merchants said at the time that few local businesses were hurt
by the strike.

Local 709 members rejected the tentative contract by a vote of 1,240 to
602, despite an endorsement by local leaders. They cast strike ballots
by a vote of 1,408 to 435, meeting the two-thirds threshold needed for a
walkout.

IAM locals in California, Mississippi and West Virginia, however,
ratified deals with identical economic terms.

About 1,000 union members in Marietta didn\'t cast ballots in the
ratification vote, and some IAM members said turnout was low because
most members assumed the deal would pass.

Union officials said they believe virtually all IAM members will support
the strike if one is called. About 62 union members crossed picket lines
during the strike three years ago.

But some rank-and-file members say machinists are bitterly divided and
significant numbers will cross picket lines.

John Remington, an industrial relations professor at the University of
Minnesota\'s Carlson School of Management, said the IAM has a
seldom-used trump card that it can play to avoid a strike.

\"In rare instances, the IAM has been known to step in and sign the
contract over the objections of the local membership,\" he said. \"The
IAM doesn\'t like to do it. It creates all kinds of nasty repercussions.
But if the international union is convinced that local members are
taking them on a suicide strike, they can step in.\"

Frank Larkin, an IAM spokesman, said the union hasn\'t considered taking
over Local 709.

In a letter to union members Wednesday, Lockheed personnel director Jack
Lambert said the rejected deal was far more generous than other IAM
labor contracts in the defense industry. The Lockheed offer would have
given Local 709 members larger pay raises and higher pensions than their
counterparts at Boeing or Pratt & Whitney, he said.

\"The bottom line is that you should not be misled by dissidents within
the union who have a political agenda to scuttle the agreement,\"
Lambert said.

\"It is the wrong time to put your job in jeopardy and to provide
arguments to those who would cancel our programs and take away our jobs.
You might want to reconsider the realities of the situation.\"