MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS AND TIMES ARE:

7:20 a.m. (3^rd Shift)    1:00 p.m. (2^nd Shift)    3:20 p.m. (1^st Shift)

Contract negotiations begin on May 22^nd and the General Electric Company is certainly going to test our resolve on the major issues.

On April 17^th Jeff Immelt was in Erie and he spoke to the officers. He said GE had four things to address at national negotiations, Healthcare, SEROS, Pensions and New Hires. On the subject of Healthcare Immelt said GE pays more so the membership should pay more, about SEROs the CEO stated, "if we had to do it all over again, we would not have negotiated SEROs", when we pressed him on "new hires", Immelt hinted that GE shouldn’t supply company paid healthcare insurance, once they retire (at age 65). Coincidentally, the officers told Mr. Immelt that we had four items on our agenda, "Healthcare, SEROs, Pensions and New Hires".

Healthcare has definitely increased over the years but GE’s profit per employee has doubled over the last ten years, all while GE’s aggregate cost for healthcare insurance is slightly lower over the same 10-year period. The company dislikes the SERO feature because of the associated cost which include the two supplements, healthcare insurance and the pension benefit. The Union’s position is that these are by no means a "golden handshake". The work our members perform is both physically and mentally draining and by the time we reach our mid-fifties, we have not only earned our retirement but we need it. The Pension tables have got to be increased and a cost of living adjustment is absolutely necessary for all current and future retirees. The last COLA for retirees was in 2000. Just an example of the injustice being done to retirees, we talked to a 78 year old man that retired with 25 years service. His pension is $560.00 per month, after his health insurance is deducted his pension totals $361.00 per month, by the way the member retired in 1991. As far as the new hires not having healthcare benefits when they retire, we say…Selling out future members is not negotiating, it is cannibalism!!!

Stay involved, Stay informed

UNITED WE BARGIN, DEVIDED WE BEG

Editors Note: I would like to thank all of the Rally Committee volunteers and especially thank Chairman Denny McLaughlin, Kevin Ireson, Matt McCracken, Eastern Regional President Andrew Dinklelaker and Roger Zaczyk for coordinating this important event.

2007 Contract information can be accessed now and throughout negotiations thanks to resources offered by the UE National, the Coordinated Bargaining Committee (CBC) and of course Local 506.

The most comprehensive and timely reports can be accessed on the UE National website
http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/unity2007.html
The UE Negotiating committee, working with the UE National staff work hard to update the page at the end of each day of negotiations.

The Coordinated Bargaining Committee (CBC) website: http://www.geworkersunited.org
provides a broad range of material pertaining to GE and GE Workers. It is also a good site to access information on the history and workings of the CBC.

The Local 506 web master Dale Stubenhofer is no longer on the E-Board, however we are hoping to coax him into keeping our page current throughout negotiations. If you see Dale, thank him for his past contributions and tell him we’d appreciate his help once again this year. The Local’s web page is: http://www.uelocal506.org/

Plans also call for CBC Newsletters and the UE National NEWS will continue to be circulated during negotiations. There will also be a steady stream of Local 506 leaflets.

Steve Hyzer was elected to replace Mike Hayes in a special election held on April 12^th and 13^th. Steve has been a Trustee since 2001 and he has gained experience by serving as a steward in multiple divisions. We want to welcome Steve to the Executive Board and offer any help he made need in representing Building 12 Members.

CHIEF PLANT STEWARD’S COLUMN

-By Mike Hayes

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for giving me the honor to serve in this position. I assure you that I will work hard to do my best.

In future columns, I would like to get into a little more detail in the Step 2 grievance cases. At the last Step 2 grievance meeting on April 18^th, we addressed the following concerns: wage issues, discipline, farm out issues, the job posting procedure, tooling, and safety concerns. There are going to be more and more Lean Manufacturing issues coming up in the plant and I am sure that we will be discussing those as well.

On April 28^th, I had the opportunity to attend the Eastern Regional meeting in Monroeville, PA. There I met UE Members from several Locals in the region and found that they share the same goals that we do. That indicated to me that we are not going to stand alone this contract year.