CHICAGO _ United Airlines' 9,000 mechanics narrowly ratified a new contract on Monday, the first joint contract for the group since United combined workforces with Continental Airlines in a merger six years ago.
Just 51.58 percent of the mechanics voted in favor of the deal, International Brotherhood of Teamsters spokeswoman Kara Deniz said. The mechanics were the only remaining domestic unionized employee group without a new contract, United said in a news release.
According to the Teamsters, the roughly $6 billion contract will run about $1.7 billion above the cost of the current mechanics contracts over its six-year term.
The agreement calls for checks to ensure that five compensation measurments remain at least 2 percent above that industry average every two years and includes $185 million in retroactive pay, with an average payment of $20,500 per employee.
All employees also will get defined benefit pension plans, matching the pre-merger Continental technicians' benefits and a step up for pre-merger United technicians, who had a defined contribution plan, Teamsters representative Bob Fisher said when a tentative agreement was announced in September.
Some employees wanted a shorter contract, and more favorable profit-sharing provisions. Under the new contract, mechanics get a smaller cut of any profits United earns.
The union said the negotiating committee settled on a contract that would provide better wages and higher guaranteed pay.
The narrow majority was a major swing from a February contract proposal an overwhelming 93 percent of mechanics voted against. Fisher said that contract was worth about $500 million less. Negotiations had been going on since July 2013.
