The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 67/No. 21           June 23, 2003  
 
 
GE workers protest layoffs, cuts
 
BY ELLEN BRICKLEY  
LYNN, Massachusetts—Hundreds of workers rallied in front of the General Electric Riverworks aircraft engine plant in this Boston-area town on June 7, two days after national contract negotiations got under way in New York City. Organized by Local 201 of the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communication Workers of America (IUE-CWA), the rally protested GE’s threatened layoffs and proposed cuts to health care for retired and active workers, along with other attacks.

The unionists are among the 25,000 workers across the country—members of 13 unions—whose contract with GE expires at midnight, June 15. A nationwide strike has been scheduled against the giant company for June 26 if agreement is not reached on a new contract.

The Lynn rally took place in the course of a 24-hour plant-wide strike over the bosses’ farming out of work from Building 64 of the company complex. Job security is a key issue for the 2,500 workers in the local.

Busloads of GE workers, retirees, and supporters came to the rally from a number of far-flung areas, including Louisville, Kentucky; Erie, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Ohio; Schenectady, New York; and Jonesboro, Arkansas. Community groups such as the Lynn Senior Action Committee also participated.

Participants laid a wreath in memory of Michelle Rodgers, a Louisville IUE member who was killed earlier this year during a two-day strike in defense of health-care benefits. Rodgers, 40, died January 14 after being struck by a police cruiser as she was crossing the street from the picket line to her parked car. Local 201’s flyer publicizing the action read, “Our fight for pension protection, job security, and to keep our medical coverage intact has taken on national significance. We are facing many of the same attacks as workers at Verizon, OFS (Lucent), and state and municipal employees.”

Retired worker Kevin Maher, who worked 34 years at GE, told the Militant that low pension payments and higher medical costs are forcing workers to give up their homes.

The June 7 event was the last of a series of contract actions that involved some 3,000 workers in total. On May 17 rallies were held in Louisville and Erie—organized, respectively, by IUE-CWA Local 761 and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (UE) Local 506.

Talks between the company and union representatives are ongoing. All 26 members of the union’s negotiating committee wore the Local 201 T-shirt into the first day of negotiations to signify solidarity going into the Saturday rally.  
 
 
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