Category Archives: Negotiations

Gearing up for GE Contract Negotiations

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We invite all 506 members to visit the newly created UE webpage designed specifically for our upcoming Negotiations with GE.  The page provides information on issues that come up during national contract negotiations, and important background information on the UE-GE Contract. There are also videos of short interviews with UE members talking about the problems they’ve experienced with GE’s current healthcare plan. Keep checking the page, because more information will be added as the start of bargaining approaches. In June during the negotiation process, the page will also provide daily reports from the bargaining table.

CLICK on the link BELOW to go to the 2015 UE-GE Negotiations Website:
http://www.ueunion.org/uege2015

Learn How The Affordable Care Act Impacts Contract Negotiations

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All UE members are invited to join us for the Sub-Region Training!
Learn How The Affordable Care Act Impacts Contract Negotiations

  •  ACA and Health Insurance Bargaining
  • Guidelines for Negotiating Health Insurance
  • ACA Toolkit Costing
  • ACA Replacing Lost Value
  • Sample Health Care Information Request
  • Sample Health Care Contract Language
  • ACA General Health Insurance Questionnaire

WHEN: Saturday, March 29, 2014 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: UE Local 506 Hall 3923 Main Street Lawrence Park, PA 16511
Lunch Will Be Provided
For more information contact your Local President or Deb Gornall (Eastern Region President at 814-455-1064).

Union Vows to Continue Effort to Save 950 Jobs Despite GE’s Rejection of UE’s Offer

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Press Statement from UE Local 506 President Scott Duke

June 23, 2013

Even though tonight we were not able to reach an agreement, our union remains committed to saving the 950 jobs which GE is proposing to move to Texas.  We are now evaluating all possible options and UE officials will be speaking with company officials Monday.

Two years ago we negotiated an agreement with GE getting modest wages increases and in exchange made deep and painful cuts to health care and pensions.  GE made a deal with us and tonight we rejected their attempt to renege on that deal.

Even though our primary focus was on saving jobs, we did place $26 million in savings in work rules and efficiency on the table which the Company rejected.

GE Transportation made billions of dollars largely from our labor and leads the world in locomotive production, winning GE business of the year.  We helped them win the Super Bowl and all along they were planning to fire the team.

They engaged in the secret transfer of work while we were helping them make those profits.  This whole bargaining process was an attempt to get us to approve something that they had already started to carry out.

We met with our members last week and they strongly instructed us not to accept the wage freezes, two-tier wages, mandatory overtime, and other types of wage cutting demanded by GE.

Under the terms of our contract, GE is not permitted to transfer our work until October 2013 so we are not closing the door on future negotiations.

We are going to quickly bring our leadership together and evaluate our next moves including pursuing existing NLRB charges, additional legal challenges, and all possible labor actions.

We remain as committed to preserving our jobs as GE is committed to increasing its profits.  For us it’s about families and the community that made GE great over the past 100 years.