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GE hiring workers for new Fort Worth locomotive plant
At the time of this story nothing as been made in the Texas plant but a union official is saying a inferir product will be made. He sounds more worried about the jobs in Erie than the product. I wonder if he was worried about the non-union made compents made in Poland and Russia that go into the units?
Fort Worth is a nice city to live in, and if the wages are less it is probably because the cost of living is less. Those union folks who have been doing it in Erie for 100 years may want to think about relocating because if GE can produce the same product for less money in Texas, it will do so.
Let me explain this to the union workers in Erie. Those Texans are willing to work for $10 an hour less than you. If I were you, I would take a pay cut of $10 an hour, and then tell the union of yours to take a long walk off that short pier that sticks out into the lake. Unions are history. The only jobs unions are interested in protecting are those of the union management. You grunts on the bottom still working like it’s 1899 are unemployable outside of a union because you are union members. In this Obama economy, no business owner in his right mind is going to hire you, the lazy slipshod union worker, when he can get a highly motivated, proud of his work, non-union worker. You see, it isn’t just the wages. It’s quality, or lack of quality. Union workers make poor quality products and everybody knows it. EMD went non-union. GE will follow in order to keep up or be left behind with a product of lower quality when compared to EMD. So if I were you, I would seriously consider working for minimum wage. That is, if you still want a job. Thankfully, I am not you, as I got out of a union almost 30 years ago, after 8 months or 3 years and 8 months, depending on if I take into account the 3 years the union threatened me after I had left.
With international markets, as well as domestic ones, buying GE locomotives and with commuter agencies and Amtrak soon to be in the market for new passenger locomotives, it is smart for GE to open a second plant. Even wiser is to do it in a state with an excellent workforce that observes an individuals Right-to-Work. Expansion, it’s what is smart!
““We’ve been building locomotives up here for close to 100 years. Our work is union pride work, family sustaining,” Zaczyk said. “They’re going to build an inferior product for a lower wage.”
I feel sorry for the union guys in PA. They have made GE locomotives for years and it is their reputation that the plant in Texas will build theirs upon. Since their wages average $31.00 per hour, assume that is what their local economy supports. So they (the union workers) probably would be hard pressed to take a pay cut that appears to be about half of what they are getting right now. I am sure unmentioned work rules and benefits add into the equation. However GE is not in any of their business(es) to just provide jobs. They want to make as big of a profit as possible. My recommendation is to sell their house in PA and take the job they already know something about. I bet they won’t miss the much colder winter and tons of snow one bit. Yes, it does snow in Ft. Worth, but not like it does up north.
Even if GE says it is not moving work to the new plant I think it will happen anyway. Once GE notice how much more money they will be doing, they will shut down the Erie location. EMD did it by closing the London, ON, facility and moving production to the new plant in Ohio or Illinois. Again moving production to a non unionized plant. EMD opened a plant in Brazil. Maybe a question of time as to when production will move there. But as long as we North Americans keep increasing the use of rail to move goods and passengers, I think American made locomotives will keep existing.
Noah left the unicorns on the shore. He should have left the “union-cons”, too.
I wonder how much of that $31/hour goes back to the union as dues, and what is the difference in state income taxes between PA and TX? The effective wage difference is probably a lot less than $10/hour. I may not be as cynical about unions as Mr. Guse, but I still wonder if the PA employees will find their pension funds have been ‘poorly invested’, ‘misappropriated’, or some other euphemism for looted by union leaders over the decades.
I hope GE is sincere in their word about keeping work at the Penn. facility, but all one has to do is look at what EMD (Progressive) did to their employees at London Ont. When they opened up their Muncie Ind. plant, it was just a short period of time and the London one closed. While the prospect of adding work force seems good for Texas, I see this as the beginning of the end for Erie employees.
Better Ft Worth than China…
Jeffery Guse, I suppose you would gladly work for peanuts. Why don’t you move to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan or some other third-world country and live like dirt. Apparently you would want American workers to do the same. Would you want to earn wages where you can’t have a roof over your head? No your are too good for that and everyone else is dirt.
Unions have unionized themselves into irrelevance. Back when people were dying by the thousands every year on the job, workers needed protection from unscrupulous employers. Now, the only things they are good for is costing people their jobs by making unreasonabke demands. Another factor to consider is that the entire economy has been in a free-fall correction since 2008. Do you think companies are going to continue to pay pre-recession wages in areas where housing prices have been cut in half, and where there are a lot of people who would be thankful to have a job at all, even for the lower wage? The guys in Erie had better reign in the Union, lest they also find themselves unemployed.
Union does not equal better product! If I were GE, I’d be more worried about what their own employees are saying about the company. Bashing the company that I work for; that puts food on my table and clothes on my children’s back, is never a good sign. People have been reprimanded for company bashing in blogs and on the web, this Zaczyk should be one of those people.
Mr. Gorecki, this may be a hard concept for you to understand being from IL and all, And, after I point this out, you will be on your way to the local U-Haul dealer, but Texans pay 0% state income tax. That means nothing in state income tax. So let’s tally this up, no union dues, no state income tax, lower housing cost, and wide open Ft. Worth vs. cramped Erie. The folks up north don’t realize this, but the folks in TX look at those up north and tell them to keep their extra $10…
Any ideas on photographer-friendly aspects like tours or public access to trackside views of track used for testing?
I doubt that the Texas GE employees will build an inferior product just as I “do” believe PA GE employees build an excellent product.
I am sure that GE is building in Texas as leverage against the Erie union as well as for expansion, just as I am sure PA‘s union would like everyone, everywhere, to be unionized so they have the leverage.
It’s called competition. And let the best win.
Well, it seems that the ignorance about how unions work and exist is rampant among Trains readers. I was a Teamster for 30 years.
First, union dues cannot be used for political purposes. That was outlawed some time ago. When I was paying dues, it amounted to two hours wages per month. Pretty cheap investment for higher wages.
Unions are NOT outlawed in Texas. Texas is a RTW state, but unions are not outlawed. RTW simply makes them work harder for members. Usually, in a shop where the unions are involved, there are few workers that are not union.
Texas does not have an income tax. No state or local income taxes are collected.
As to the quality of the product, just like any other program, customers will determine who is building a good product. If quality is poor at Fort Worth, then GE will lose customers. I seriously doubt they will let that happen.
Well, it seems that the ignorance about how unions work and exist is rampant among Trains readers. I was a Teamster for 30 years.
First, union dues cannot be used for political purposes. That was outlawed some time ago. When I was paying dues, it amounted to two hours wages per month. Pretty cheap investment for higher wages.
Unions are NOT outlawed in Texas. Texas is a RTW state, but unions are not outlawed. RTW simply makes them work harder for members. Usually, in a shop where the unions are involved, there are few workers that are not union.
Texas does not have an income tax. No state or local income taxes are collected.
As to the quality of the product, just like any other program, customers will determine who is building a good product. If quality is poor at Fort Worth, then GE will lose customers. I seriously doubt they will let that happen.
Re the lower wages in Texas - the race to the bottom continues.