LYNN — Standing outside of the General Electric (GE) headquarters in Boston Monday afternoon, GE workers, state and federal lawmakers, unions and nonprofit organizations protested the company’s decision to split into three separate entities and the more than 80 jobs at the Lynn GE plant that are being transferred to other locations.
Attending the protest were state Rep. Peter Capano (D-Lynn), representatives from the Industrial Division of Communication Workers of America (IUE-CWA) 201, IUE-CWA 301, Massachusetts American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) President Steven A. Tolman, Greater Boston Labor Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer and Executive Director of Community Labor United Darlene Lombos; and members from the New Lynn Coalition.
GE worker and IUE-CWA 201 member Brian Fitzgerald said about 100 people showed up at the protest and 30 of them were from the IUE-CWA 201 chapter from Lynn.
He praised the organization of the protest and the cooperation between lawmakers and the unions.
“They did a good job getting the word out,” he said. “It felt great doing this.”
GE employee of 41 years, Bob Reynolds, said the goal of the protest was to not only raise awareness in Massachusetts, but raise national awareness about the jobs being outsourced.
“It’s horrible what is happening in this country,” Reynolds said. “The purpose of this protest is to show what is happening here and maybe get people more enraged about it.”
Reynolds said he would like to see a GE employee on the company’s Board of Directors and the Trust Fund Board. He said GE employees do not have proper representation in the company and want a seat in the decision-making process.
“The current members on the board gave the thumbs up for breaking the company up into three parts,” he said. “We want a GE worker sitting on the Board of Directors who has that perspective that the board currently does not have.”
Workers also demand that GE invest $5 billion into factories that are both active and closed across the state and country and convert historic GE facilities into multi-modal brilliant factories with supplier parks.
Capano said he saw Local 201 president Adam Kaszynski enter the GE building and hand a list of the union’s demands to the company’s staff.
“It was a success,” Capano said. “We had labor leaders from Massachusetts and GE workers from Schenectady, N.Y. appear at the protest.”
The protest on Monday is one of a series of actions against GE across the United States, as the company announced in November the transfer of jobs and the divide into three sections: aviation, health care and energy. In response to the announcement, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, along with U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton released a letter to GE Lynn Aviation CEO John Slattery calling on GE to reverse course on their decision.
“Lynn workers have led the way in innovative manufacturing for our country since General Electric’s inception,” the letter stated. “Now, as GE Aviation charts its path forward on its own, we implore you to invest in these workers.”
One member of IUE-CWA 201 said they expect to hold more protests in the future against GE, but hoped the company would respond to their demands quickly.
“It is up to how the company responds,” he said. “It comes down to a matter of right or wrong when they ship our jobs elsewhere.”
GE spokesperson Alexis Kievning said the company’s transfers of jobs were not involuntary and they will have the opportunity to move to other jobs within the plant.
“There is no involuntary job loss related to this action,” Kievning said. “All 82 workers in the impacted areas will be able to transfer to other jobs within the plant if they so choose.”
Kievning said the company is still in the bargaining process with unions.
“We can’t comment on much right now as the process is still going on,” she said.
