Striking Machinists voting on new offer from Spirit AeroSystems. Here’s what they’re saying

7:20 update: IAM announced that the contract proposal has been ratified by union members

Striking Machinists are voting Thursday on a new contract proposal with Spirit AeroSystems, a week and a day after union members overwhelmingly rejected an initial offer from the company.

Union leadership has said it strongly recommends approval of the new proposal, which was released Tuesday and preserves existing healthcare benefits, guarantees a 20% wage increase over four years and eliminates mandatory overtime work on weekends.

Polls at Hartman Arena in Park City will close at 4 p.m. Vote tallying is expected to last several hours.

“This contract is better than the first one because they accept our demands,” said one voter who wished to remain anonymous. “The insurance issue was pretty sticky the first time, but this time they just gave us the same insurance and everything.”

Others saw it differently.

“It’s like they tried to trick us,” said another employee who has worked at Spirit for 13 years and asked not to be named. “They took our insurance away on the first offer and then on the second offer, they bring it back. That’s not gain. We haven’t gained anything.”

Don Schilling, who has spent 43 years with the company, said wages have been stagnant for too long. The new contract proposal doesn’t fix that, but it’s a step in the right direction, he said.

“It’s been an 18-year wage increase beatdown basically since [Boeing] sold us in 2005,” Schilling said.

“It doesn’t cover [inflation] but it’s much better than we’ve seen. For a four-year window, I think we’re doing pretty good with that.”

Workers will get a $3,000 signing bonus if the contract is ratified Thursday.

An employee named Trevor, who declined to give his last name, said he also voted to approve.

“I work on the defense side so I feel like we weren’t going to get anything better no matter what,” he said.

“I found out that they denied us extra pay on the defense side, so I’m not going to really support the union with that.”

But another worker who voted against the proposal said he’d rather keep the strike going than settle for a contract that makes him feel undervalued.

“We’re getting pennies for a dollar, man,” he said. “We build airplanes that millions and millions of people travel on. All we’re saying is give us some respect.”

“Spirit’s one of the biggest employers in Wichita, and they’re damaging the economy of Wichita by playing games with their employees who so very well deservedly need a raise to combat the inflation of the economy here,” said voter Patrick Thomas.

In a Tuesday statement, Spirit Tom Gentile said the company worked closely with union negotiators to better understand workers’ priorities.

“We believe this new offer is fair and competitive and recognizes the contributions of our employees covered under this proposed agreement, enabling our ability to meet the growing needs of our customers and deliver value for our investors,” Gentile said.

The 6,000 union-represented Machinists had worked under the same contract with Spirit for 13 years before it expired last Friday. They began picketing outside the plant Saturday.

Spirit has halted production, but several thousand non-union employees have been reporting to work since the strike began.

Under the terms of an injunction signed by Sedgwick County District Judge Eric Commer, picketing workers may not hold up vehicles, make threats or intimidate people attempting to enter the Spirit campus.

This story was originally published June 29, 2023 at 5:30 AM.