LAWRENCE PARK, Pa. — Locomotive laborers will soon be back to work under a 90-day agreement reached late Wednesday between Wabtec Freight and members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Locals 506 and 618.
The Erie Times-News reports that the deal is only for 90 days to allow locomotive work to progress at the former GE Transportation plant while labor leaders and company officials continue negotiations on a long-term contract.
Wages have been a point of contention between the two sides, with Wabtec proposing lower wages for returning workers or new-hires. Union leaders say that the rates should remain close to current worker’s $35 per hour wages.
Workers have been on strike since Feb. 26, the day after Wabtec officially merged with GE Transportation.
Picketing ended immediately Wednesday night into Thursday with all workers expected back on the job Monday, March 11.
Colin Mulligan, I do not work for or in the auto industry, never have, but have been a long term customer. All are the same when it comes to costs of operation. You seem to have miss-understood the point. Take off the blinders. t has become a world market, like it or not. What does a $50,000.00 Chinese loco have to do with anything? Please explain what ‘Detroit in the 70’s’ means to you. Automation did not kill Flint, Mi. Extreme costs of operation did. ‘Buick City’, in Flint, was the original Buick location. Three miles long and a half mile wide. It had it’s own power plant! In 1997 or 98 GM announced a $350 million new paint line for the plant. The union local had elected a much more, let’s say, ‘agressive’ group of officers that demanded GM use their members to install it. GM said no, the manufacturer will do it, it’s their line. The Mayor at the time backed the union. GM discovered that sales of full size cars had fallen during all these discussions and canceled the up grade and instead announced the plant would close. The union members voted the ‘agressive’ officers out putting a much more moderate in charge, the Mayor now backed the new union position. GM said we no longer need the excess capacity and the complex is way to old, built in the early 1900’s. It’s really was not about the unoin. More of a perfect storm. Union objected at the same time that all of us stopped buying full size autos. They built the Pontiac Bonneville, Buick LaSabres, Olds 88 at the end. Plant closed June 1999. That really is not the point. I go back to, ALL INDUSTRIES, have the same problem, legacy costs, at some point someone will start a new factory somewhere making your stuff. A new factory that has ‘new’ lower, non legacy costs, in a modern, efficient building. Unless you can adjust, YOU LOSE.
Mr. Withorn, excellent comment. Very clear. and first-person stated.
There are hundred of thousands of jobs available in the USA – some good paying ones too. They just don’t happen to be in Erie, PA. For example, they are paying big money for drivers of those huge mining trucks in Texas.
So move to where the jobs are. If you need training in a new field, go get it. Stop sounding like someone owes you something. Your ancestors most likely picked up and moved here from somewhere else – that took initiative – now it’s you’re turn.
Robert Withorn not every industry is the same. The Chinese aren’t selling comparable locomotives at $50,000. This is not Detroit in the ’70s.
A lot of those auto jobs were the victims of the earliest modern automation. I believe the PLC was first used to shorten the time between production line changes when a new model was introduced.
Your personal experience doesn’t cover every industry.
Mr. Thompson, Wabtec will build locomotives somewhere, maybe not in Erie, PA., but somewhere. What someone used to make is very much irrelevent. If you are unemployed, your unemployed, nothing else. An employer must be profitable to increase sales so they need to give you a job. In your new global market place, the manufacturers must compete with companies paying 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 as much, doesn’t matter. If the company must pay you 2, 3, 4 time the competitor and, there for, has a cost that’s higher then the others sell price, how are you planning on them keeping you employed? No company goes in to business to give you a job, only the Govm’t does that. Gerald isn’t anti labor, he’s just living in reality and is smart enough to realize that if the market says the best is $20 – 25.00 / hour, then be glad someone offered you a job. Unemployed is still unemployed aand the only thing all those years of building locos should get you is to the front of the line! I’m from Flint, Mi. and a pretty good grasp on employment reallities. In 1979 we had 79,000 working for GM, now less then 1/4 of that. It is reality, it aint pretty, just reality. Flint is a shell of what it was, not ghost town but close. The can’t have the oldest plants, (original Buick, Fisher Body, AC Spark Plug / Chevrolet, GM Parts), with the highest costs and expect to survive, Oh that’s right, they didn’t. So, I’m back to unemployed is still unemployed. Locomotives will get sold and locomotives will get built. Someone will get paid to build them. All the crying in the world won’t change, unemployed is still unemployed. The workers of this country are NOT the problem, cheap foreign labor is, not fair but reality. Yes corp. executives do get way too much compensation. Many times at the expense of workers, blame Wall Street not Gerald or me, Heck, I’m about to become unemployed but I will not whine about it!
Gerald I guess you’d like to see your hourly pay knocked down and still do the same job you did yesterday. And at the same time the bosses get raises and bonuses. For the life of me I can’t figure out why your so against labor. The reality is that you don’t know what’s better for anyone else besides yourself. Those men and woman have built locomotives for that company for years and should be treated and paid fairly. You almost always insinuate that the workers are the problem with this great country, especially if they happen to be Union. I truly believe that if it were left up to people like you, everyone would be working for pennies and living in company houses buying from company stores. Some people have more dignity than to just lay down and let someone run over them. And then some folks don’t. Which one are you Mr. McFarland?
So Wabtec wants to make a new contract in line with the current business climate and the way most contracts are going now(even for first responders). Those that are currently working and are not laid off will keep the current wage, where as those that are either recalled or new hires will get paid a lower wage…that is the new reality and the union can either take it or lose all of the jobs their entirely.