Workers who make key components of electric grid say highly profitable company refusing to negotiate fair contract.

WHAT: Workers Rally and Letter Delivery

WHERE: Hitachi Energy US Headquarters, 901 Main Campus Drive, Raleigh

WHEN: Tuesday, November 12 at 4:15pm

For more information, or to arrange interviews with Hitachi workers, contact:
Ben Wilson, UE Field Organizer
412-935-7545 | ben.wilson@ueunion.org [1]

Members of UE Local 625, who work for Hitachi Energy at plants in Greensburg and Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, will picket the company’s North American headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina on Tuesday, demanding that the company drop its concessionary demands and bargain a fair contract with the union.

“UE Local 625 makes the equipment that keeps our energy infrastructure safe,” said local president Gary Williams. “We want these to be family sustaining jobs so we retain workers that are the best at building our products. Hitachi is making huge profits, but does not want to invest into the workforce. It is pure corporate greed. But with the solidarity of our union and labor movement, we will get the contract we deserve.”

Hitachi workers from Pennsylvania will be joined in North Carolina by members of UE’s North Carolina Local 150. “When our fellow union members are under attack, we are gonna fight back,” stated Willie Brown, President of the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union, UE Local 150. Brown continued, “We can’t sit by and watch corporate greed go unchecked. We are rallying at Hitachi’s headquarters to let them know that they need to do right by the workers that make their profits.” 

Despite making huge profits amid the booming demand for electricity, Hitachi is demanding a concessionary contract that would allow the company to unilaterally raise the costs of the union member’s benefits, including health insurance. The company has also committed multiple unfair labor practices during negotiations, violating US labor law, including threatening picketing workers in the event of a strike.

Local 625’s contract with Hitachi expired on October 31, and union members have unanimously voted to authorize a strike if necessary.

Photos of the picket available upon request.

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