This is the second official notice that UE Local 506 will conduct nominations for all general offices during membership meetings on February 17, 2005 at the UE Local 506 Union Hall. Times for the meetings are 7:20 a.m. (third shift), 1 p.m. (2nd shift), and 3:20 p.m. (1st shift). Also, during the February meetings, the membership will select (5) alternate-tellers for the General Election. Nominations for the following offices will be taken from the floor at each meeting. They are: Business Agent, President, Chief Plant Steward, Vice President/ Recording Secretary, Treasurer, Executive Board Member at Large (three to be elected), Sergeant at Arms, Trustee (two to be elected).

The election will take place on Thursday, March 24, 2005 at the UE Local 506 Union Hall. The polls will be open from 6:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Voting machines will be used for all offices except Executive Board Member at Large and Trustee. Those elections will be by paper ballot if the number of candidates in each of those races is greater than the number of open seats.

Absentee ballots for those members scheduled for temporary military leave will be available on Friday, March 11, 2005 at the Union Hall and must be returned to the Hall no later than 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23, 2005.

By virtue of this election, the Business Agent, President and Chief Plant Steward will be delegates to the District Six Council and to the UE National Convention.

Agenda:

3:20 p.m. (1^st Shift)

Welcome to all of the hundreds of new members who have joined our ranks over the last 18 months. As you settle in and learn your new jobs, we hope you’re also learning about UE Local 506 and your rights as a member and a GE worker

For most of you, this is the first time you’ve worked in a Plant the size of GE Transportation and it may be the first time many of you have belonged to a union. Either situation can be a significant cultural change. To help you adjust, we hope you have already met with your department Steward to have any questions answered, if not we encourage you do so today.

Beginning this month, we will address certain items that may only affect you as new GE workers. Our goal will also be to familiarize you with the Union in the hope that you will become an active member.

The UE is an independent rank and file Union. UE Members elect all leaders, at all levels. Local 506 holds elections for all general offices every two years. The announcement on page one explains how you can participate in those elections. Additionally, we hope the information supplied in this article will help first-time Local 506 voters.

The first thing you will need to know is where to vote. All voting will take place at the UE Local 506 Hall located at 3923 Main Street, Lawrence Park. If you’re not familiar with Lawrence Park, Main Street begins at the Plant’s East Entrance. Traveling on Main Street, through Lawrence Park, you will find the Hall on the Southwest corner of Main and Rankine Avenues (at the only traffic light on Main).

When to vote – Voting will be conducted between 6am and 6pm so most members can vote before or after their shift or members can "punch out" to vote during working hours. The Local will have six 19-passenger vans available to haul members back and forth from the buildings. Divisional Chief Stewards will set up schedules so you won’t have to wait long for a ride.

How to vote – First of all, to expedite the elections, please have your Union Card with you when you vote. Erie County voting machines are used for all races except Executive Board at Large and Trustee. Paper ballots are used in those two elections to prevent "bullet balloting". You will have to vote for three Executive Board at Large and two Trustees candidates, otherwise your ballot will be voided.

Statement of Qualifications – On Wednesday, March 2, 2005, a special edition of the UE Local 506 NEWS will be distributed to familiarize you with each of the candidates. The NEWS will also contain a sample ballot for your review before voting.

We hope this short election guide will help you better understand the voting process and make you feel comfortable enough to vote. Election Committee representatives will also be available at the Hall on Election Day to further assist you with voting.

There was only one Election Committee nominee in each of the nine Divisions therefore there was no need to conduct any of the scheduled elections on January 20, 2005. Those representatives to serve for the 2005-2006 term are:

We wish to thank all of the Election Committee Representatives for accepting the responsibility of overseeing the upcoming March 24, 2005 General Elections, the November 2005 Steward Elections, the January 2006 Chief Steward Elections and all Delegate and Special Elections that will come up during their term of office.

ODDS and ENDS

During the January Membership meetings, five-term Chief Plant Steward Dave Kitchen announced that he would not be running for office in the March 24, 2005 General Elections. Dave explained that he and his wife Diana, "have been blessed with a baby girl" therefore he will understandably be spending a great deal of time with their daughter.

Dave served one term as Chief Plant Steward in 1991/1992 and later returned to that office in 1997. During his latest tenure, Dave devoted a great deal of time towards job preservation and job creation issues. Through his research and presentations during for the 1997, 2000 and 2003 National Negotiations, he was chiefly responsible for many of the Article 23 "Job and Income Security" language improvements. As a 506 officer and Job Preservation Committee Chairman, Dave has taken the lead in many successful negotiations over subcontracting, farmout and layoff announcements.

As the Chief Plant Steward and chairman of the Grievance Committee, Dave has done an outstanding job of defending Local 506 Members facing disciplinary action or discharge. Because of his ability to represent these workers, there hasn’t been a need for arbitration since 1997. Dave’s knowledge of the UE-GE Contract and his ability to present a case have been invaluable in resolving hundreds of grievances before reaching the Step II of the Grievance procedure.

We want to take this opportunity to thank Dave for serving the Union over the years and wish him and his family the best in the future.

You will recall back in November, the Company was attempting to redesign the Building 12-radiator cab area. They said that the reason for the change was due to the Tier Two cab being much more labor intensive than the Dash-9 or A/C cab.

Last week we walked through the area to check out the results of the almost $5 million investment. The new assembly line has 9 stations. The first station starts the process with the cab moving down the line where the various wiring, plumbing, and assembly work is done, when the cab reaches the final station it is ready to have the floor installed, then over to test and on to final assembly in Building 10. As we walked through this state of the art assembly area and talked to the assemblers, it was evident that they all had the same concern, "the kits". The "kits" are boxes that come from an outside vendor. Each kit should contain all the parts needed for that phase of the assembly process; the problem is they are often missing some of the necessary parts. As with all new or revamped production areas, the PTA’s will no doubt conquer this problem. How soon is a big question though?

Area residents will elect a Mayor, County Executive, City and County Councils, and a host of Township and Borough positions on May 17^th. The LAC will sponsor a candidate night in early April; we will invite all the candidates to the Union Hall so that we can get their opinions on the subjects that concern working people. We had a lot of fun with this 2 years ago and I suspect this year will be the same, so clear your calendar and make plans to attend; all you’ll need to participate is a question for the candidates. Every time I drive by the Hammermill site a dozen questions enter my mind.

The Company announced plans and began hiring another 250 workers from applications taken at the Career Link in January; this is in addition to the 550 hired since October 2003.

The grievance activity for the year stands at six cases filed to Step #2 so far. This is about where we started last year. Several of these concern the company’s intent to farmout work from Buildings #5 and #7. The company believes we can’t do all the work in question from those areas at this time. We are arguing that, given the resources, we can do the work in those areas.

The Building #5 case centers on the company farming out work because Building #2 has a capacity problem. The work to be farmed out includes the fabrication work Building #5 performs on the same parts.

We maintain Building #5 has the capacity to do their portion of the work, therefore there is no reason to farmout all of the operations. As the Chief Steward from Building #5 pointed out, the workers in the area losing the work have had very little overtime compared to the rest of the building, so they should be given the opportunity to continue to perform their part of their work.

The Building #7 situation is somewhat different. There we have a capacity problem but only because building management was slow to react to the upcoming schedule. As other areas of the plant were planning ahead and hiring workers to meet the schedule, the Building 7 management did nothing and are now left behind the eight ball. Sounds like the only thing that should be farmed out should be the management team who fiddled while fire burned around them.

Another issue we brought to management’s attention concerns the Building #20 Tool Room. The Union has persisted in asking the company what they intended to do in regards to upgrading the machinery and increasing the workflow in the Tool Room. We feel the Tool Room can be a major asset but only if someone cared enough to invest wisely in the area. For too long it has been ignored and allowed to fall into disrepair.

Then we find out that the Diesel Engine Lab found the resources to purchase some needed machines for not only the work they perform but also for some work the Tool Room had been doing for them. Word has it they were not thrilled about the service they got from the Tool Room so they went out to buy their own machines. Now this sounds like something positive unless you work in the Tool Room and wonder why your management cannot find resources to upgrade your machines. Here we are under the impression GE was all about getting the best productivity from everyone and everything only to find out they aren’t In one instance, when we inquired about fixing a Tool Room machine, we were told they couldn’t find a company to do the work. The Steward then got on the Internet and found a company that did this repair work. He gave his boss the information and low and behold the repairs got done. I guess we don’t mind doing their job for them if the outcome is positive but we don’t like to be patronized or "bull shitted" along the way.

A final thought, recently we have come across several instances where workers were in their last days before retirement only to find out the boss had not ordered the retirement books from the plant print shop or did not bother to go pick them up after they were ordered. I am sure they were just too busy to do this one thing for their employees who each had over 30 years service. No excuses here boss - Just do the right thing in the future, "Care enough to do your best".

On Friday, January 14, 2005, the Company gave the Union notice that it intends to outsource the Building 14 Lab work to Modern Industries. The transfer would affect two hourly workers and two exempts. At this point of negotiations, the two hourly workers would be placed on openings in the Building 20 Tool Room and the Company would post an additional two 25 Code jobs for the Building 9 Lab.

The lab currently performs an array of metallurgy and paint tests for all facets of the Transportation Division in Erie. Through Article 23 language in the UE-GE National Agreement, the Company must give at least 60 days notice before outsourcing non-production work. The Union is taking advantage of this time to meet with the Company and gather information to eventually make a proposal of our own. Plant Services Chief Steward Ralph Mannarino is taking part in the negotiations along with the Officers and Recording Secretary Dale Stubenhofer.

Here’s a rundown of upcoming Sports Committee events:

For the third straight year, the Sports Committee will help out at the VAVS Bowling Tournament. This event will be held on February 20, 2005 at the Eastway Lanes.

The Annual Saint Patrick’s Volleyball Tournament is scheduled for March 13, 2005 at the Iroquois High School.

The UE Local 506 Annual Bowling Tournament will be held at Eastway Lanes on March 26, 2005.

Finally, due to a lack of interest the Committee is dropping the idea of an excursion to see a NASCAR Race.

With the business schedule we have for the year, we shouldn’t see too many temporary layoffs but in a Plant this size there are always instances of shortages or flow problems that can trigger LOWs. The information below should help you in the event of a temporary layoff.

The PA Unemployment Compensation Law contains provisions that automatically adjust benefit payments when the balance in the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund is low. The balance in the Fund has declined to a level where benefit payments for any week of unemployment that occurs in calendar year 2005 must be reduced by 2.3 percent.

The 2.3 percent benefit reduction will be applied to compensable weeks ending January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2005, regardless of application for benefits (AB) date. As such, if you filed a new claim in calendar year 2004, you did not have a benefit reduction for any weeks ending in calendar year 2004, but you will have a benefit reduction for any weeks ending in calendar year 2005.

Despite the reduction, claims opened in 2005 will still include an annual cost of living adjustment, however the adjustment will be lowered to reflect the 2.3% reduction. It's important to know the new figures so that no one jeopardizes their eligibility for a UC and IEA Waiting Week, therefore, make sure you review the formula below:

Weekly UC Benefit Amount $467.00 (was $461.00)

Total Maximum Weekly Benefit $475.00 (was $469.00)

To qualify for a UC waiting week you must earn less than the figure derived by adding 40% on top of your UC benefit (less spouse and child allowances). If you are entitled to the maximum UC benefit, the most you can make for a waiting week would be determined as follows:

Weekly Benefit Amount $467.00

In this case, to qualify for a waiting week, claimants eligible for the maximum UC Benefit, must have less than $653.00 in earnings.

*Important (especially for the newer GE workers): Please note that you must be eligible for the maximum rate for the above formula to apply. Most Local 506 members will qualify for the maximum. However, anyone who has been laid off, on disability, or who simply had low earnings in their qualifying quarters will want to call the UC Service Center (814-871-4311) to determine what their weekly UC Benefit will be. They then add 40% to that figure to determine what you can earn for a qualifying Waiting Week. (Remember – You must earn less than that amount)