NEW YORK—Electrical workers are on strike in New York and New Jersey against attempts by five light fixture manufacturers to outsource their jobs.

These members of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3 work under a master agreement that covers 10 shops, that together employ more than 500 workers in the lighting industry in the two states. After four months of negotiations on their expired contract, on November 8 union members struck five plants, which employ about 300 workers. The other firms in the bargaining unit agreed to a new contract that prohibits outsourcing of jobs.

“We need a raise and we need better benefits,” Adeila Orozco, an assembler with 16 years seniority at Linear Lighting in Long Island City, told the Militant. Wages at this plant range from $8 per hour to $18 per hour.

“I’ve been on strike before,” said Abdul Rashid, who has 15 years seniority at the same plant. “The company wants to make more money by eliminating our jobs and having the work done cheaper elsewhere.” Rashid reported that 10 union members had crossed the line at Linear Lighting.

Workers said that two struck companies began negotiations on November 13. Picket lines at one of the firms, Edison Price Lighting, were taken down when negotiations began. Tony Esponda, a union shop steward at Edison, said that the company has hired a professional strike-breaking firm to recruit scabs and pick them up in vans and drive them through the line every morning.

—DAN FEIN  
 
 
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