Machinists' union approves contract with Raytheon

Machinists' union votes for 3-year contract in Tucson with Raytheon

• On 2:29 pm EST, Monday November 2, 2009

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- A machinists union avoided a possible strike at Raytheon Missile Systems Inc. by approving a new three-year contract with the company.

Jim Watson, an official for the Local 933 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, says more than 75 percent of the bargaining unit's dues-paying members met Sunday and overwhelmingly approved the new contract. A final tally wasn't immediately available.

The vote ratified a tentative deal that union and company officials reached last week.

The union represents 1,750 hourly Raytheon workers in the Tucson area.

The new agreement runs through 2012. It provides for general wage increases of 2.75 percent this year and next year, and 2.5 percent in 2011.