An Atlanta-area union rejected its own leaderships’ campaign to  strike in uncertain economic times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday.

Work at the Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta will go on today as machinist union workers rejected a proposed strike over a labor contract they deemed “substandard.”

On a 1,366 to 1,006 vote members of the Local 709 of the International Association of Machinists decided to stay on the job.

Many workers feel this is the worse possible time to go out on strike, due to the poor economy.

The AJC continued:

In the face of record unemployment in Georgia, union members felt their action would have made better conditions for people who might be unemployed now but could be hired in the future by Lockheed Martin.

The new contract removes pensions for new hires.  The union campaigned hard for its members to vote to reject the contract, but to no avail.  The old three-year contract expired on Sunday and a new three-year deal went into effect.

EDITOR’S PERSONAL NOTE: As the daughter of a union employee, this blogger remembers well those “every three-year-worries”.  Would we, or would we not go on strike?

Striking meant the embarrassment of being on free lunches at school in front of all class mates.  It also meant KCC went to the front of the lunch line with the other “free lunch kids”.  To avoid this, KCC either brought her lunch each day, or paid for it out of her babysitting money.   At H. J. McDonald Junior High, if you only wanted a salad, they put you at the front of the line, so in a pinch, your blogger could get a salad with her free lunch ticket and no one else would know.

KCC’s mother and father worked very hard and saved and their daughter never wanted for anything. They also taught her the value of hard work and KCC started working at age 11.

However, during strikes, her parents felt that as hard working taxpayers, they, too had the same rights to free lunches as the “welfare mothers” had for their kids.  KCC didn’t care.  It was an embarrassment to be in Junior High and to have to get a free lunch.

Hat Tip: http://www.laborunionreport.com

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