More than 600 union fab technicians at Rockwell Semiconductor Systems in Newport Beach, CA, called a strike after rejecting the company's five-year contract offer. Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2295 walked off the job on May 28 in protest over inadequate pay raises and company plans to institute mandatory 12-hour workdays. Rockwell reportedly offered wage increases of 5% in the contract's first year, 3% in the second year, 4% in the third and fourth years, and 5% in the last year. Most of the technicians make between $25,000 and $35,000 annually, according to press reports.
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