On Tuesday, November 14, 2017, nominations for IAM Local Lodge 912 will be taken for Executive Offices and Bargaining Committee positions  at our 1:00 and 3:30 PM regularly scheduled meetings.  The election will be held on December 7 in the Union Meeting Room (Building 800, Basement Column C-9).  Polls will be open from 6:00 AM until 6:00 PM.  Offices and positions are for three year terms.

In order to accept a nomination, the following criteria must be met (per IAM Constitution and LL912 Bylaws): Nominations must come from the floor by a member in good standing (and members may nominate themselves); a nominee must be a member in good standing (all fines, fees, and assessments are fully paid and not currently delinquent on dues) for at least one (1) year by November 14; a nominee must have attended at least 50% of the regularly scheduled meetings.  You may also accept a nomination if you provide a letter to the Recording Secretary (Scott Huentelman) prior to the November 14 meeting, stating that you will accept a nomination for that particular office.

This information will be sent by US Mail to our members, or you can see the information here: 2017 LL912 Election Information

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — GE Transportation plans to end most locomotive production at its century-old plant in northwestern Pennsylvania, eliminating about 575 jobs.

The work is being transferred by the end of 2018 to Fort Worth, Texas.

“This move is necessary to drive efficiency, better compete in the increasingly competitive global rail market, and preserve U.S. jobs,” GE said in a statement.

The Lawrence Park Township plant, just outside Erie, currently employs more than 2,500 workers, and locomotive prototypes will still be produced at the site, which is GE Transportation’s largest plant.

Richard Simpson, a GE Transportation executive, told GoErie.com the company has to put work at its most competitive location, which doesn’t include Erie.

“While we have made progress in Erie, it still isn’t as competitive,” Mr. Simpson said.

Earlier this year, GE announced it was cutting 250 positions at its Fort Worth plant, where workers aren’t unionized.

About 225 employees at the Fort Worth plant would be recalled, and as many as 200 other jobs would be created at GE suppliers around the country, Mr. Simpson said.

Scott Slawson, the president of the Local 506 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, calls the cuts “union busting” and says the company simply wants to pay the lowest wages possible.

Texas is a right-to-work state, and Mr. Slawson contends the Fort Worth workers earn a low wage and “have zero loyalty to GE.”

He said the union has 10 days to decide if they will go into “decision bargaining” with the company, but he doesn’t hold out much hope for any substantive changes.

“Erie has been dealt a lot of blows over the years,” he said. “I don’t know how many times a community can be kicked.”

According to the AFL-CIO’s Executive PayWatch, Ohio S&P 500 CEOs are being paid about 290 times what the average rank-and-file worker makes.  That’s an average of $10.9 million per year vs. $37,600 per year for production and non-supervisory workers.

When inflation is taken into account, worker’s wages have remained more or less the same for half a century.

“The income inequality crisis in our country continues unabated,” said Tim Burga, Ohio AFL-CIO President.  “Our economy continues to be rigged by those at the top and working people continue to pay a big price. These findings highlight the need for a greater emphasis on strong collective action to ensure that wages rise, rights get restored, and workers finally get the dignity and respect they’ve earned.”

According to Salary.com, GE Aviation CEO David Joyce made over $10 million in compensation in 2016.

Indiana Republican Leader Admits Prevailing Wage Repeal Hasn’t Saved Money

Kenneth Quinnell

May 4, 2017 (from the AFLCIO.org website)

The Republican-led Wisconsin state Senate is discussing a bill to repeal prevailing wage laws for public works projects. As with most such attacks on working people in the United States, the arguments advanced in service of stripping rights from workers fall flat under even the slightest scrutiny.

Even Republicans admit that when pressed. Indiana passed a similar law in 2015 and video has surfaced from a forum April 24 in Milwaukee, where Indiana’s House Assistant Majority Leader Ed Soliday (R) admits that the prevailing wage repeal in his state didn’t save a penny.

Soliday said:

“We got rid of prevailing wage and so far it hasn’t saved a penny. Probably the people most upset with us repealing [prevailing] wage were the locals. Because the locals, quite frankly, like to pay local contractors and they like local contractors to go to the dentist in their own town.

The exaggerations in those hearings that we were going save 22%. Well, total labor costs right now in road construction is about 22%, and I haven’t noticed anyone who’s going to work for free. [They claim] there’s some magic state out there that’s going to send all these workers into work for $10 an hour and it’s just not going to happen. There’s not 22% savings out there when the total cost of labor is 22%. It’s rhetoric. So far, I haven’t seen a dime of savings out of it.”

Analysis of the Wisconsin legislation shows that $1.2 billion will be lost annually if the bill passes because of reduced economic activity. Study of the Indiana repeal shows that the state lost jobs because of it, and neighboring Kentucky saw a very similar number of new construction jobs appear in the aftermath.