FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Production of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft will continue uninterrupted after assembly and maintenance workers at Bell Helicopter Textron agreed to accept a new contract, averting a strike.þþSeventy-eight percent of United Auto Workers Local 218's 1,500 members voted Sunday in favor of the three-year agreement, which preserves most health insurance benefits and includes a signing bonus.þþThe union, which represents about 1,900 production workers at Bell facilities in Hurst, Arlington, Grand Prairie and Fort Worth, had been prepared to strike at 12:01 a.m. Monday at the Fort Worth plant if its members had rejected the deal.þþ``It was a long, tough battle to retain the insurance,'' said union President Gary Livingston. ``I was disappointed in the raises.''þþBell inventory clerk Sharon Montgomery, who voted in favor of the contract, said she was satisfied with its terms. She had feared the company would seek pay cuts or other concessions.þþ``With the V-22 the way it's going right now, it's still iffy,'' she said. ``It could've been worse.''þþTextron, based in Providence, R.I., has spent two years trying to stop cost overruns while improving safety and quality on military projects like its V-22 Osprey. Those troubles led to several rounds of layoffs.þþ``Working together as partners, we look forward to going into full rate production on the V-22 Osprey and the H-1 helicopter upgrade programs,'' P.D. Shabay, Bell's executive vice president for administration, said in a statement Sunday.þþLast month, the Pentagon said recent tests of the Osprey showed a redesign has fixed the flaws that led to crashes that killed 23 troops in 2000.þþThe V-22 is a hybrid design with fixed wings and propellers that can tilt upward so the craft can take off and land like a helicopter, then rotate forward so it can fly like an airplane. The Marines want the Osprey to replace its aging fleet of CH-46 Sea Knight transport helicopters.þþ
Source: NY Times
