Machinists on ‘fast track’ with bidders of Spirit work

The Machinists Union said Thursday it has received a proposed labor contract from a group looking to acquire some fabrication and machining work from Spirit AeroSystems.

A July 23 letter from Machinists District 70 president Frank Molina said the union’s bargaining committee met with representatives from Canadian equity firm Onex Corp. and Advanced Integration Technology on Wednesday and Thursday and expects additional meetings next week.

Since early June, the union has said that Spirit is considering a sale of some of its fabrication and machining work, and that Onex and AIT are among the bidders. The union has said the two are the only group of bidders that plan to keep the work in the area. The Machinists said about 900 of its members would be affected by the sale.

Thursday’s letter said that in addition to the proposed labor contract, the union has received letters of understanding and proposals concerning the transition of its members from Spirit to Advanced Fabrication – which the letter said will be the name of the new company – as well as their work at “the new state-of-the-art, air-conditioned facility that it intends to build in the Wichita area.”

The letter said the committee “must carefully review the proposals and will be prepared to respond next week. These negotiations are on a fast track and we will be bargaining hard on your behalf for the next few weeks.”

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Machinists on ‘fast track’ with bidders of Spirit work."