GE negotiations get underway

USA: The IMF-affiliated IUE-CWA reports that, on May 19, the first union proposal was made in national negotiations as the 14-member Coordinated Bargaining Committee of General Electric unions opened bargaining with General Electric in New York City. The IUE-CWA president, Edward Fire, who also chairs the CBC, proposed that GE reinstate two workers who were fired at the GE-owned Johnson Technology for their organizing activity. The National Labor Relations Board has issued charges in both cases. Saying that this issue had to be dealt with and resolved in these negotiations, Fire said that "at its core, General Electric has always been and remains, anti-union." Fire and IUE-CWA/GE Conference Board chairman, Art Smith, outlined the major issues in the negotiations. Key among them are pension increases and job security. Fire called for "substantial" pension improvements for current and future retirees, as well as improvements in health care with no cost shifting. "There will be no givebacks in the new IUE-CWA GE three-year contract," Fire stated. "If General Electric continues to insist that IUE-CWA members accept the massive concessions in health care cost shifting GE has talked about, our members are prepared, and will strike."