During its two day meeting January 27 and 28, the General Executive Board – UE’s national leadership body – discussed recent attacks on the constitutional rights of antiwar and labor activists by the FBI, U.S. Department of Justice, and other government agencies. The board unanimously adopted the following statement:
General Electric workers are anticipating difficult national negotiations with the company this spring, so national and local union leaders gathered on January 8 for an expanded meeting of the Coordinated Bargaining Committee of GE Unions (CBC). Delegates assessed the strength of the two sides, analyzed expected company attacks on benefits, and discussed tactics for mobilizing union members to fight back.
by Donna Slimsky
President, Sub-Local 28, UE Local 222
Holyoke, MA
After several months of negotiations, UE Local 264 members at Holyoke Machine Company won their key demand. As a result, the defined benefit pension plan is maintained and the benefits will be improved in each year of their new five-year contract by $1 per month per year of service. This will increase the pension multiplier from $22 to $25 by the final year of the contract. The average age of the membership is 55, and many workers are close to retiring.
A new three-year contract for Local 1421 members at the Stepan Company includes annual raises of 3 percent and other improvements, as a result of the activism of workers in the shop.
The hourly shift differentials were increased by 15 cents, to $1.15 for the evening shift and $1.25 for the midnight shift. The premium for workers on swing shifts was increased from $2.50 to $2.75.
Local 1421 members at Tree Island Wire (formerly Industrial Alloys) put up a strong fight during negotiations, and now have a new three-year contract that includes wage increases and other improvements. But they took a hit on their health insurance. Their plant makes building materials primarily for housing construction – an industry that has been in a severe slump for the past three years.
Helen Quirini, a pioneer activist for the rights of women workers, and for the past 30 years a powerful voice of GE retirees, died on October 4 at age 90.
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| UE Local 204 members and supporters have been waging a year-long campaign to keep their worplace, the Haskon Aerospace plant, open. Here they're taking their message through the streets of Taunton in a march held last April. Helping carry the banner were Taunton Mayor Charles Crowley, Congressman Barney Frank, and State Senator Marc Pacheco. |
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Just 10 days after UE’s successful Political Action Conference in Washington, more than 50 UE members were back in the nation’s capital to participate in the One Nation Working Together rally. Seen here near the Lincoln Memorial, the UE delegation included members from eight states.
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