Hundreds of workers at the defense industry company’s facility off Sand Lake Road in Orlando first walked off the job May 1, a date celebrated in some countries as International Workers Day. The Lockheed Martin workers, represented by the United Auto Workers union, were officially on strike over their employer’s alleged violations of federal labor law, including an allegation of failing to bargain a new union contract in good faith. They were joined by Lockheed Martin employees in Denver, similarly represented by the UAW.
“We are standing together in solidarity and we will have each other’s backs until we get a fair contract,” shared Tim Smith, director of UAW Region 8 (covering Florida), in a statement last month.
Representatives from various labor unions in Central Florida, as well as politicians like State Rep. Anna Eskamani, Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, Orlando City Commissioner Tony Ortiz and U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost, joined workers on the picket line over the last month. “This is our fight and we have support,” UAW Local 788 president Art Franco of Clermont shared in a social media post. “We are not alone.”…