Approximately 600 IAM Union members in Alabama, Florida and California voted on Sunday, April 27 to ratify a strong, four-year labor agreement with United Launch Alliance (ULA).
The new four-year agreement includes improvements throughout the contract, including:
- An equity adjustment plus general wage increases of 4% in year one, 3.5% in year two, 3.5% in year three, and 3% in the final year of the deal.
- Pay progression rate improvements, which shortens time between minimum and maximum pay.
- Improvements in paid time off.
- 401(k) improvements.
“Our negotiating committee worked tirelessly to negotiate a deal that represented the concerns of our membership,” said IAM Western Territory General Vice President Robert “Bobby” Martinez. “The membership voted to accept this deal, and we could not be more proud of the negotiating team and our membership.”
United Launch Alliance engineers, manufactures, launches, and supports various space exploration vehicles, including the current Atlas and Delta rockets. Since 2006, IAM Union members have helped successfully launch over 150 missions.
“Whether it be here in the south or on either coast, this membership builds some of the most advanced space exploration vehicles on the planet and deserves an agreement commensurate to the skills needed to do so,” said IAM Southern Territory General Vice President Craig Martin. “Everyone from the negotiating team to the members should be proud of all their accomplishments.”
Since 2008, Local 44 (District 75) in Decatur, Ala., Local 610 (District 166) in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Local 2786 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., have operated under a single agreement as a strategic benefit between the three facilities.
“We negotiated an offer with the company that the membership felt was acceptable,” said IAM Union Aerospace Coordinator Bobby Barnwell. “We committed to ensuring that our membership concerns were addressed and we were successful.”
A single agreement provides the IAM membership the advantage of strengthened bargaining power at the table. This contract acceptance is a result of this strategy.
“Unifying these three locations into a single contact reflects a true strategy to ensure that our membership is respected for the work they do, regardless of which physical location they work in,” said IAM International President Brian Bryant. “At the end of the day, the membership gets to decide if they accept an agreement, and today, they did.”
The new agreement goes into effect on May 1, 2025.
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