Reuters, May 17, 2007, Thursday
Reuters
Contract talks to kick off for 20,000 GE workers
Thu May 17, 2007 12:05PM EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/tnBasicIndustries-SP/idUSN1733063720070517
By Scott Malone
BOSTON, May 17 (Reuters) - The cost of health care will be a bone of contention when General Electric Co. (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research on Monday begins negotiations with unions representing more than 20,000 of its workers, whose contracts are due to expire in June.
Negotiators for the world's second-largest company by market capitalization will be meeting with representatives of 11 unions, who negotiate as a block.
Reuters Pictures
Photo
Editors Choice: Best pictures
from the last 24 hours.
View Slideshow
The alliance -- comprising of the International Union of Electronic Workers/Communications Workers of America, the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, Teamsters and other unions -- has in the past proven to be effective in negotiating for better contract terms, according to labor experts. "They are multi-union negotiations with a diversity of unions that people would think would be unlikely to work together," said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University's school of Industrial and Labor Relations, in Ithaca, New York. "They have run comprehensive campaigns for the last several contracts and done a good job of mobilizing members and working together."
The negotiations will cover workers at major GE facilities in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Kansas. The current four-year contract expires at midnight on Sunday, June 17.
"We have a good relationship with our workers and with the unions," GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said in an interview this week. "There are big thorny issues in health care and other areas, but I think we'll have a robust and constructive dialogue with the union."
The unions also expect health care to be a focus.
"We're expecting that there is going to be a lot of emphasis on health-care costs shifting and also pensions," said Lauren Aspen, a spokeswoman for the unions. "Jeff Immelt's made some public statements about how if they had to do it over again, they would not be devising the same sort of benefit programs ... So we anticipate we're going to have some tough fights over that."
LABOR OUTLOOK
Since GE signed its first union contract in 1938, the company, with businesses from making jet engines to commercial lending, has faced four strikes related to national contract bargaining.
The rising cost of health care and defined-benefit pension plans for retirees have been hot-button topics across the economy, with major companies trying to phase out the expensive pension plans, in favor of managed employee savings, and shifting more of the growing tab for medical care to workers.
GE's unions face a different playing field than the United Auto Workers, which begins contract negotiations this summer with General Motors Corp. (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Ford Motor Co. (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research and DaimlerChrysler AG (DCXGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research. GE, which last year earned $20.83 billion on $163.39 billion in revenue, is in far better financial shape than Detroit's ailing Big Three.
Reuters Pictures
Photo
Editors Choice: Best pictures
from the last 24 hours.
View Slideshow
The company's financial health may make it easier for its workers to stick to their demands.
"It's not about, 'We all have to tighten our belts,' it's just about the owners of GE getting richer," said Bronfenbrenner of Cornell.
Other major U.S. manufacturers have recently faced strikes. Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG.N: Quote, Profile, Research this year faced a three-week strike by 2,800 workers at its largest plant in York, Pennsylvania. The strike contributed to a 14.8 percent drop in the number of motorcycles the company shipped in the first quarter and took a toll on profits.
At Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, 15,000 workers held a three-month strike late last year, agreeing in December to a contract that created a $1 billion trust fund to secure medical and prescription drug benefits for retirees.
Last spring, workers at United Technologies Corp.'s (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research Sikorsky helicopter unit struck for six weeks. But early this month, that conglomerate negotiated a new three-year contract with workers at its Hamilton Sundstrand airplane electronics unit without any disruption to production.
((Editing by Maureen Bavdek; Reuters Messaging: rm://scott.malone.reuters.com@reuters.net; Telephone: +1 617-367-4176; Boston.Newsroom@reuters.com)) Keywords: GE LABOR/
(C) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.nN17330637
Contract talks to kick off for 20,000 GE workers
Thu May 17, 2007 12:05PM EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/tnBasicIndustries-SP/idUSN1733063720070517
By Scott Malone
BOSTON, May 17 (Reuters) - The cost of health care will be a bone of contention when General Electric Co. (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research on Monday begins negotiations with unions representing more than 20,000 of its workers, whose contracts are due to expire in June.
Negotiators for the world's second-largest company by market capitalization will be meeting with representatives of 11 unions, who negotiate as a block.
Reuters Pictures
Photo
Editors Choice: Best pictures
from the last 24 hours.
View Slideshow
The alliance -- comprising of the International Union of Electronic Workers/Communications Workers of America, the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, Teamsters and other unions -- has in the past proven to be effective in negotiating for better contract terms, according to labor experts. "They are multi-union negotiations with a diversity of unions that people would think would be unlikely to work together," said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University's school of Industrial and Labor Relations, in Ithaca, New York. "They have run comprehensive campaigns for the last several contracts and done a good job of mobilizing members and working together."
The negotiations will cover workers at major GE facilities in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Kansas. The current four-year contract expires at midnight on Sunday, June 17.
"We have a good relationship with our workers and with the unions," GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said in an interview this week. "There are big thorny issues in health care and other areas, but I think we'll have a robust and constructive dialogue with the union."
The unions also expect health care to be a focus.
"We're expecting that there is going to be a lot of emphasis on health-care costs shifting and also pensions," said Lauren Aspen, a spokeswoman for the unions. "Jeff Immelt's made some public statements about how if they had to do it over again, they would not be devising the same sort of benefit programs ... So we anticipate we're going to have some tough fights over that."
LABOR OUTLOOK
Since GE signed its first union contract in 1938, the company, with businesses from making jet engines to commercial lending, has faced four strikes related to national contract bargaining.
The rising cost of health care and defined-benefit pension plans for retirees have been hot-button topics across the economy, with major companies trying to phase out the expensive pension plans, in favor of managed employee savings, and shifting more of the growing tab for medical care to workers.
GE's unions face a different playing field than the United Auto Workers, which begins contract negotiations this summer with General Motors Corp. (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Ford Motor Co. (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research and DaimlerChrysler AG (DCXGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research. GE, which last year earned $20.83 billion on $163.39 billion in revenue, is in far better financial shape than Detroit's ailing Big Three.
Reuters Pictures
Photo
Editors Choice: Best pictures
from the last 24 hours.
View Slideshow
The company's financial health may make it easier for its workers to stick to their demands.
"It's not about, 'We all have to tighten our belts,' it's just about the owners of GE getting richer," said Bronfenbrenner of Cornell.
Other major U.S. manufacturers have recently faced strikes. Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG.N: Quote, Profile, Research this year faced a three-week strike by 2,800 workers at its largest plant in York, Pennsylvania. The strike contributed to a 14.8 percent drop in the number of motorcycles the company shipped in the first quarter and took a toll on profits.
At Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, 15,000 workers held a three-month strike late last year, agreeing in December to a contract that created a $1 billion trust fund to secure medical and prescription drug benefits for retirees.
Last spring, workers at United Technologies Corp.'s (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research Sikorsky helicopter unit struck for six weeks. But early this month, that conglomerate negotiated a new three-year contract with workers at its Hamilton Sundstrand airplane electronics unit without any disruption to production.
((Editing by Maureen Bavdek; Reuters Messaging: rm://scott.malone.reuters.com@reuters.net; Telephone: +1 617-367-4176; Boston.Newsroom@reuters.com)) Keywords: GE LABOR/
(C) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.nN17330637
posted by SBasefsky @ 11:33 AM
<< Home