Agenda:

The UE Local 506 Constitution was amended in December 2002 to create an independent committee to oversee the General Elections and all Chief Steward, Steward, Delegate and Special Elections. An election is conducted every two years to select one representative from each of the nine Chief Steward’s Division. Election Committee Elections for the 2005/2006 term will be held in the shop on January 20, 2005.

Nominations for Election Committee representatives must be made at the UE Local 506 Office, during regular business hours, during the first full week in January (January 3 to 7, 2005). Nominations will be closed at 4:00 P.M. on Friday, January 7, 2005. Any member in good standing can nominate a candidate for these offices or the candidates can nominate themselves. The member making the nomination will pick up an acceptance form and a questionnaire. These must be filled out by the candidate and returned to the Union Hall office no later than 4:00 P.M. on Tuesday, January 11, 2005. The individual making the nomination is responsible for delivering these forms to the candidate.

The names of all Candidates will be published in a special UE Local 506 bulletin, along with information on each Candidates attendance at Local Union Meetings, Union Offices held, and a brief statement of qualifications.

In each contested Division, two tellers per shift will be chosen, by mutual agreement of the candidates, to conduct elections. The Divisional Chief Steward will post the notice of the election in prominent locations at least three days before the election. The posting will list the candidates, the date and hours for the voting, and it will announce where and how the voting will be conducted. Newly elected Election Committee representatives will be sworn in at the first- shift membership meeting in February.

FRANKLY SPEAKING

As the year comes to a close we have an opportunity to look back at ’04 and ahead to ’05. One year ago our concern was the Tier Two locomotive, because of the enactment of The Clean Air Act all locomotives built after January 1, 2005 would have to pass an emission test, all units built before that date would be grandfathered.

GE had invested over $250 million to develop the Tier Two locomotives, but the big question was, "Would the railroads accept the new technology?" or would they load up in ‘04 and take a wait and see attitude in ’05? As it turns out, 2004 was the second biggest year for locomotive production in the Erie Works history. The forecast for 2005 indicates another busy year for both OHV and Locomotives.

GM selling Loco Business?
GM is nearing a deal to sell its locomotive division to two private US equity firms, ending more than two years of negotiations. GM agreed to the terms of a joint purchase for its Electro-Motive Division with Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partner.

CONFERENCE BOARD SPEAKS OUT ON PENSION BENEFIT CUTS FOR SALARIED WORKERS

At the Friday, December 3, 2004 UE-GE Conference Board Delegates approved the following resolution condemning GE for taking the first step toward undermining retiree pension and insurance benefits for future GE workers.

RESOLUTION OF THE UE-GE CONFERENCE BOARD IN OPPOSITION TO GENERAL ELECTRIC’S ATTACK ON THE BENEFITS OF SALARIED NEW HIRES

November 30, 2004, General Electric advised the Union of its decision to effect dramatic cuts in the benefits of all exempt, and many non-exempt, salaried employees hired by the Company on or after January 1, 2005. The Company, obviously hoping that these cuts will receive as little attention as possible, did not even issue a press release about the matter. But we have no intention of allowing GE to sweep these massive and outrageous benefit cuts quietly under the rug. Ultimately, these cuts represent a grave threat to all GE employees, present and future, hourly and salaried alike.

The main features of the cuts are as follows:

* Early retirement with a full pension at age 60 is eliminated. Only those retiring at age 65, or at 62 with 25 or more years of service, will receive an unreduced pension. Otherwise a 5% per year reduction is imposed for each year one retires before 65.

* All early retirement supplements are entirely eliminated.

* All company-paid medical insurance coverage for early retirees is eliminated.

* All post-65 retirees medical coverage, including the Medical Care Plan for Pensioners which supplements Part A of Medicare, and the Pensioners’ Prescription Drug Plan, is eliminated.

* Retirees’ life insurance is cut by 70% to a maximum of $15,000, down from $50,000.

* Benefits associated with permanent job loss events such as the Special Early Retirement Option (SERO) and the Plant Closing Pension Option (PCPO) are eliminated.

Thus in one fell swoop, the Company plans to take benefits critical to the security and well-being of GE employees, negotiated by the Union over more than a quarter century, and heretofore applied to all GE employees, and simply wipe them out for these new hires.

These huge cuts might cause a casual observer to assume that GE was in great financial difficulty. Nothing could be further from the truth. This year the Company is set to surpass last year’s record of nearly $16 Billion in net profits, and CEO Jeff Immelt is openly predicting double-digit profit growth in 2005. GE remains the world’s most financially successful company, and consistently brags to investors that its brightest days are ahead.

Nevertheless, it is clearer than ever from this latest action that GE envisions no such brightness in the futures of its employees. For them there is to be less, not more security - in their jobs, in their ability to address the medical needs of themselves and their families, and in their hopes for a dignified retirement.

It is particularly ironic that GE is gutting some of the most important features of the Pension Plan, offering the excuse that this is in keeping with "industry trends and practices" and is "cost competitive in the labor market". The fact is that GE has not contributed a penny to the pension fund since 1987, and that the Plan continues to be over-funded by many billions of dollars.

Similarly, even as the company continues to reap enormous profits as a major player in the health care industry, the long-term effect of its action will be simply to add to the 45 million Americans without health insurance and to accelerate the alarming trend among employers to dump post-65 medical benefits altogether.

The UE-GE Conference Board, comprised of delegates from UE-GE Locals across the country condemns this action on the part of General Electric. It is, even by GE standards, a particularly

egregious example of corporate arrogance and greed. We intend to prepare to resist any attempt by GE to extend these cuts to any segment of the GE employee population in the future, and to work with other unions in the Coordinated Bargaining Committee (CBC) of GE unions in this regard.

Adopted Unanimously 12/3/04

Along with the Officers, Local 506 Delegates to the Conference Board Meeting, were: Pat Casher, Bldg. 7, John Burrows, Bldg. 20, John Manning, Bldg. 5, Executive Board at Large Member Mark Pierson, Bldg. 5, Plant Services Chief Steward Ralph Mannarino and Bldg. 7 Chief Steward Frank Barnes.

As we get closer to the end of the year, we can summarize the 2004 grievance activity as being moderate, with approximately 90 cases advanced to the Step #2 level of the procedure.

Looking back at the grievance activity over the last ten years, we saw a high of 329 cases in 2002 to a low of 69 in 2000. The years 1994 through 2004 looked like this; year 1994 saw 231 cases, 1995-277, 1996-144, 1997-138, 1998-78, 1999-88, 2000-69, 2001-77, 2002-329, 2003-167 and 2004-85. During that period, at least 1683 of those grievances went to the Step #2 and 462 cases went on to be discussed at the Step #3 level of the procedure.

Looking closer at the types of grievances filed over those years and breaking them down into major categories, job security, discipline, management doing bargaining unit work and overtime issues topped the list. These four categories accounted for approximately sixty percent of the cases filed. By far, job security was the largest category with 353 grievances filed. The majority of those were filed within the last three years.

The Local has made job security the centerpiece of our struggle because we realize that without a good paying job, all other benefits are meaningless. This grievance activity, by any measure, was instrumental in securing the improvements in the Article XXIII language over the last several contracts. As is the case with many issues when it comes to negotiating improvements in contract language, the history of grievances is truly important.

On grievances regarding management performing bargaining unit work, the Local has stressed that we are becoming less tolerant of these infractions. This message has been taken seriously in some areas of the plant, but in others it has not been taken care of. We hope bosses everywhere in the plant realize this is an issue we do not take lightly.

Looking again at the ten-year period from 1994 to 2004, discipline cases dropped dramatically. During the three-year period from 1994 to 1996 there were 140 cases of discipline grieved. In the next 8 years there were 109 cases. The difference can also be measured in the number of cases the Local has sent on to arbitration. Our contract allows us to request arbitrations for discipline cases where there is time off. Other cases can only be arbitrated if both sides agree. Looking at just discharge cases and arbitrations from 1994 through 1997 (3 years), there were 22 discharges, eight of which were arbitrated and the union won six of those eight. Compare that statistic with the next seven years 1998-2004, there were 31 discharges the Union did not arbitrate and yet we won 21 of those cases. Given the fact that the success rate is usually no greater than fifty-percent, the Union has a long-standing policy of avoiding arbitration if at all possible. Our abilities to achieve a better success rate outside of arbitration is good for those who face discipline but also benefits the entire membership because of the cost to arbitrate can run into thousands of dollars for each case.

The moral of this story is that a strong grievance procedure is vital to the strength of the Union. Every member deserves the right to a fair shake. The grievance procedure, if kept strong, helps to ensure they do. Success depends on the merit behind the case and how well your department is organized. Our goal should be to win on the shop floor at the First Step of the procedure.

DISTRICT SIX DELEGATES ELECTED

Seven Local 506 Members were elected on November 18, 2004 to serve as delegates to the UE District Council 6. Along with the officers, the following four elected delegates and three alternate-delegates will be voting on your behalf on all regional and National matters that arise during the 2005 term:

On November 18, 2004, members attending the first and second shift meetings voted in favor of the following 2005 Holiday schedule.
 However a vote was not taken at the third shift meeting, so the schedule won’t be decided until those members have an opportunity to vote on December 16.

ODDS AND ENDS

• Bah humbug – I’m trying to keep the Christmas Spirit but they (GE) make it difficult. With the obscene retirement packages the Board of Directors bestow on themselves and their corporate staff – How can they, in all seriousness, gut pensions and retirement benefits for newly hired exempts.
• By the way – We haven’t gone insane. We aren’t necessarily taking up this cause for the future generations of exempts, who will try to run roughshod over us. Instead, we are standing up for the principle matter that the GE business and the GE Pension Fund can afford to continue to offer full retirement benefits and they owe to all GE Employees (especially us).
• Dues Increase – The financial officers would like to thank the membership for supporting the recent $.50 dues increase. The money will offset a $2.00 per month, per member increase in the UE National Per Capita.
• I’m glad that the membership realizes the importance of maintaining a strong National Union. Without that support, we wouldn’t have a National Agreement guaranteeing, among many other things, four General Wage Increases totaling 11% and 8 Cost of Living Increases.
• On behalf of the Officers, Staff (Bonnie) and Executive Board of Local 506, I’d also like to thank all of you for supporting our work this past year and wish you and yours a Happy Holiday and peaceful and prosperous New Year. P.R.

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SPORTS SHORTS

Working off a few pounds to make room for their upcoming Thanksgiving Day Feast, Local 506 Members formed teams to compete in the Sports Committee’s "Turkey Tournament" on November 21^st at the Iroquois High School Gym. Several volleyball teams vied for top seed in their respective divisions. The winning teams in each of those divisions and their captains are listed below:

This is your last chance to buy the Sports Committee’s "Basket of Cheer" Raffle tickets. The drawing will be held right after the 1^st shift meeting on December 16, 2004.

There was only a limited response from members interested in a June 19, 2005 trip to see a NASCAR Race at the Michigan Speedway. Chairman Matt McCracken said there would have to be significant more interest in the bus trip to make it happen. You still have a chance to contact Matt at #6421 (2^nd shift), or pager # 878-6144 to let him know you’ll go.

On Friday, November 19, 2004, Building 18C workers were served up some of the best chili and soup in town as they took part in a fundraiser to benefit the troops in Iraq. The impromptu event raised an amazing $845.00 for the purchase of a variety of the items most needed over in the war zone.

The items were packaged by the UPS and they covered the cost of shipping. The donated supplies were earmarked for military women and men with some tie to a GE worker; however, a note was enclosed in each package asking the recipient to share the items with others serving with them.

Our hats go off to the organizers of the event and everyone who participated. We’re sure your efforts will bring a little comfort to those serving and let them know they’re not forgotten during this Holiday Season.