GE Union Meet, Begin Preparing
For 2015 National Negotiations
UE had a strong presence at the November 14, 2014 meeting of the Coordinated Bargaining Committee of GE Unions (CBC), held at the UAW Local 647 Union Hall in Evandale, near Cincinnati. GE workers bargain their contracts next June, and the CBC is a bargaining coalition of 11 national unions that represent GE workers. Most of UE Local 506's executive board attended, along with delegations from Locals 332, 618 and 601.
UE General President Bruce Klipple gave a brief account of the history of the CBC, which began in the mid-1960s as an effort to counter GE’s “take-it-or-leave-it” bargaining strategy known as Boulwarism. The CBC’s real breakthrough came as a result of the 1969-70 national strike, and has led to many gains for workers in the decades that followed. (See sidebar.) “It’s not a perfect system,” said Klipple. “We may have our internal disagreements, but it has continued to produce well for GE workers and their families. We will need to approach these upcoming negotiations with the same commitment to our members and determination to work together in order to win a fair contract, as we have many times in the past.”
The meeting was chaired by Jim Clark, president of the International Union of Electrical Workers-Commuications Workers of America (IUE-CWA) and chair of the CBC. Clark said that GE amassing more and more wealth at workers’ expense is just a symptom of what’s wrong. “The problem is not GE. They’re just one of the greedy corporations feeding at the trough.” He warned that corporate excesses will increase if Congress allows the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal to come to fruition.
Clark warned that GE, as always, will use its network of supervisors to survey the mood of the membership during negotiations, and that the unions need to explain to members the importance of backing the union bargaining position on the shop floor. But beyond that, he urged mobilization of members in the workplace behind the unions’ demands. “That’s what gets their attention, action on the floor.”
Later Lance Bergmann and Laura Hagan of the IUE-CWA presented a summary of the member mobilization training class that his union is conducting with locals around the country.
Neil Gladstein, director of strategic resources for the International Association of Machinists (IAM), did a presentation on GE’s finances. The company is “strong, growing, profitable and optimistic”, he said, with annual revenues in the range of $147 billion the past three years. Later in the meeting Gladstein presented the results of a CBC survey of members on contract issues. Scoring particularly high among members’ bargaining goals was the need for improvements in the medical plan.
Gene Elk, UE international representative and secretary of the UE-GE Conference Board, gave a detailed PowerPoint presentation on healthcare, demonstrating that the current GE Health Benefits plan imposed in 2011 bargaining has significantly shifted health costs from the company to workers. Employees are paying more and using healthcare less because it’s become unaffordable, with hospital admissions down 14 percent and the use of pharmacy, emergency room, radiology and other services down. The percentage of workers meeting the annual deductible skyrocketed, from 15.4 percent in 2011 to 56.6 percent in 2014, and workers reaching the out-of-pocket maximum climbed from 2 percent in 2011 to 20 percent last year. The total health claims paid by GE per family is down 9.6 percent, and it appears workers are now paying 36 percent of GE’s healthcare costs. These figure quantify what workers are feeling about the injustice of the current GE health plan, said Elk, and major changes are needed in 2015 negotiations.
Later Elk talked about UE’s organizing plan at non-union GE plants, including the new “Solidarity Membership” program that allows workers in unorganized GE facilities to support and stay informed about UE’s work, particularly national GE bargaining. Elk’s report was supplemented by Fred Harris, recording secretary of UE Local 601, the pre-majority union at the GE plant in Grove City, PA, who described how his local was formed and how it operates. This sparked questions and discussion by delegates from other unions.
The agenda included reports from local unions, and Presidents Scott Slawson of Local 506 and Mike Divins of Local 618 reported on the situation in the Erie plant.
Other national and local unions representing GE workers that participated in the meeting included the IBEW, UAW, and IFPTE. The all-day Friday meeting was preceded by a social gathering on Thursday evening at the UAW Hall. In addition to Klipple, Elk and 18 delegates from four locals, UE was represented by General Secretary-Treasurer Andrew Dinkelaker, Eastern Region Deb Gornall, and UE News Managing Editor Al Hart.