In the wake of a four-hour work stoppage on Friday by members of UE Local 506 on all three shifts at the big Erie GE plant, bargaining resumed on Monday with discussions of layoffs, severance benefits, seniority, and anti-discrimination language.
President Scott Slawson of Local 506 explained Friday’s walkout. “Our members exercised their contractual right to strike on grievances due to work being farmed out while some workers are still on layoff. It was an amazing show of solidarity by our membership in support of our members who are laid off.”
Ironically, the company chose to start Monday morning’s session with a presentation by benefits specialist Mike Millot on the company’s existing layoff and severance benefits. These benefits are familiar to the UE bargaining committee because they are the result of negotiations by UE over many years. GE’s benefits in this area have been ranked as some of the best offered by any major manufacturing corporation in a survey by the consulting firm Aon Hewitt.
Scott Slawson noted that some benefits do not automatically restart when an employee returns from a long temporary layoff. Mel O’Dell, Local 332 president, said workers in Ft. Edward are being told by human resources that they cannot use the company’s retraining and other job-loss benefits until they exhaust their government Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) benefits. Millot said he did not believe that is correct and would look into it.
Sherice Stark, Local 332 business agent, described serious problems that her members are having trying to use their plant closing benefits. “It’s like pulling teeth to get any counseling or help on resumes.”
Mike Luvisi, the company’s chief negotiator, said he understood Local 332’s complaints and his associate Kristen Mathers would look into the problems in Ft. Edward and get them taken care of.
Gene Elk, UE’s chief negotiator, reminded the company that UE received only four hours’ notice that the company planned to close Ft. Edward. “Every step of the way, the company has resisted doing what it’s supposed to do,” he said, and reminded the company negotiators that the human resources people in Ft. Edward “work for you.”
After Millot summarized his presentation of the company’s layoff and severance benefits, Local 506 Business Agent Frank Fusco said that what he’d like to add to those benefits is something that was lost four years ago: “Give the opportunity to more senior employees to retire with healthcare and supplements, to save the jobs of younger workers.”
“Losing that put a big burden on our younger members with families,” added Slawson. After Luvisi complained of the expense of these Special Early Retirement Option (SERO) benefits, Slawson responded that the benefit of SERO to the company is that it helps GE “maintain a cohesive workforce” by retaining, rather than laying off, experienced workers whom are fully trained.
Elk said there’s a need to improve coordination of GE’s benefits with state unemployment compensation, noting that some states (including New York) say that receipt of severance pay bars the worker from receiving unemployment benefits.
Elk also asked why GE does not allow workers eligible for preferential hiring at other GE plants to exercise those rights at GE subsidiary plants and joint ventures. Luvisi said he did not know the rationale for that.
In the afternoon session, Elk led the presentation of UE’s proposed changes in contract language in several areas. On discrimination, the union proposed to add language which ensures full company compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, including guarantees of “reasonable accommodation” when appropriate. Luvisi said GE believes it is in full compliance with ADA, but Mel O’Dell said that in Ft. Edward they don’t make accommodations to jobs, they simply make the worker with a disability “take another job.” Elk said, “That’s why we need to add this language.”
In Erie, it’s often hard for disabled workers to get plant drive-in passes, said Elk. Frank Fusco reported that the Erie GE Medical Center often reviews medical requests for the passes, but on occasion refuses to accept what he thought were legitimate requests.
The union also proposed that the wording about veterans be amended to substitute “military veteran” for “veteran of the Vietnam era” to make it clear that all veterans should be protected from discrimination.
The union also proposed extending accumulation of continuity of service credits during layoff, illness, and compensable accident for up to two years. In addition, the union sought a language improvement which obligates GE to retrain any worker who is impacted by automation, rather than just providing such training to employees with more than two years of service.
In Article XII, Reduction and Increase in Forces, the union proposed adding six months to the return-to-work rights for workers out due to illness or for work-related injury or illness. Elk commented that it shouldn’t matter if you get hurt in the plant or have an accident at home, the company should protect our jobs. Another UE proposal called for two weeks’ notice prior of a layoff (now one week).
In the Upgrading and Job Posting language, UE proposed that all jobs within the three-month progression be awarded to the senior bidder who possesses the minimum qualifications for the job. Elk was also able to show that GE has an uneven approach on lateral and downward bids from one facility to another. In Ft. Edward, GE does not recognize lateral or downward bids, but at Erie the plant practice allows such bidding, which is why the union proposes a provision to the National Agreement authorizing lateral and downward job movement.
Bargaining will resume on Tuesday morning as GE and UE turn their attention to pension issues.
UE was represented in Monday’s session by President Bruce Klipple, International Rep. Gene Elk, Local 506 Business Agent Frank Fusco, President Scott Slawson, and Chief Plant Steward Leo Grzegorzewski; Local 332 President Melvin O’Dell and Business Agent Sherice Stark; Local 618 Business Agent Karleen Torrance; Northeast Region President Peter Knowlton; Retirees Association of General Electric (RAGE) President Ron Flowers; Field Organizer Chad McGinnis; and UE News Managing Editor Al Hart. Field Organizer Omar el-Malah represented UE at the IUE-CWA bargaining table. Other CBC unions joining UE at the bargaining table were the UAW, IAM, IBEW and USW.