WICHITA, Kan. (KNS/KMUW/KPR) – Aerospace workers in Wichita will go back on the job. A strike at Spirit AeroSystems has ended.
Workers in the Machinists Union voted Thursday to accept the company’s latest contract offer. The contract makes all weekend overtime voluntary, and makes no changes to existing health care plans. Workers will see an average annual wage increase of 5% over four years.
Many workers who voted to strike last week said they rejected Spirit’s first offer due to increased health insurance costs and mandatory overtime on Saturdays.
Sixty-three percent of the workers voted in favor of the contract. It’s their first new contract since 2010.
The six-day strike was the first at the facility since 1995, when it was owned by Boeing. Most of the 6,000 workers are expected to return to Spirit by July 5. A prolonged strike at Spirit threatened to further disrupt supply chains in the nation’s aviation industry.
