Wichita ? Members of the Machinists union at Bombardier Aerospace voted Monday to ratify a restructured contract that includes concessions workers hope will ensure their job security.

“Overall, I think they have done the right thing,” said Steve Rooney, president of the Machinists union in Wichita. “The work will remain here, and the plant will remain opened.”

Rooney would not say what the vote count was or how many members voted, only that the contract was approved by the required simple majority.

The Machinists union had recommended approval of the new contract and its concessions, which include forgoing a scheduled 3.5 percent pay raise this year, while substituting a smaller 2 percent lump sum payment in 2004 and 2005. Workers also will pay more for health insurance and prescription drugs.

The contract — which was due to expire next year — will be extended until 2006.

“We are ready to go back to work,” said Richard Wyly, who was furloughed from the company in December. “Hopefully this will pass, and we will get to keep some jobs here.”

The company had said if the contract restructuring was approved, Bombardier would keep its Learjet 60 production line in Wichita. The city also would hold onto Bombardier’s flight test center and its service center for at least the length of the deal.

James Kimbell had worked for Bombardier 15 years before he was laid off in November. With his 3-year-old son Owen in tow, he voted Monday in favor of the contract concessions. He has been recalled to his job in April.

“They have us over a barrel. … I don’t think we have a choice,” Kimbell said.

Montreal-based Bombardier currently employs about 2,200 people in Wichita, including 750 represented by the union. The company cut more than 900 jobs last year in Wichita and furloughed 500 workers late last year.

The company has begun calling back some of the furloughed workers — they were among the first to vote on the concessions Monday; colleagues working at the plant had to wait for a shift change before casting their ballots.

The company last week announced implementation of similar wage and benefit cuts for workers not represented by the union.