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GE Workers Resist Health Insurance Cost Increase
Aired January 14, 2003 - 13:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, protesting over payments. A lot of companies are increasing employees' share of health care costs, so GE's striking workers say they are making a stand.
CNN's Whitney Casey now brings us up to date from New York -- hi, Whitney.
WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kyra. Well, fortunately, there is no incident here except for freezing cold weather that these strikers have endured, but they remain steadfast. They have been out here since 4:30 this morning, and they plan on protesting for 48 hours.
There are 2,000 here in Schenectady, 17,500 in 23 states across the country. That is only a small percentage, 5 percent, of their global work force at GE. They have 320,000 workers. But it is a very vociferous number. Bringing me -- joining me now, right here -- come over here, Carmen, Carmen DePoalo. He is the union chief.
You know, you guys are only doing this for 48 hours. It's 48 hours, so what do you hope to accomplish with just a two-day strike?
CARMEN DEPOALO, IUE LOCAL 301: What we want to do is make sure that when we get to the negotiating table in May, that GE understands that they make a lot of profit and they need to share that with us.
CASEY: They make a lot of profit, but 75 percent, they say, of companies like GE, the larger companies, are now not only making a lot of profit but having to pay higher costs for medical insurance. So they say it's time to share the burden. What do you say to that?
DEPOALO: It is time to share the burden come May. They jumped the gun five months early. We believe that this was an issue that should have been discussed at the contract table in May, and that we could have probably gotten a settlement and wouldn't have no strike today, and I still believe if -- yesterday they says no co-payments, there wouldn't have been a strike today.
We have paid the ultimate sacrifice today, we lost a life in Louisville, which we send out our deep regrets out to our sister's family in Louisville, but that's what unionism is about, paying the ultimate price.
CASEY: Thanks, Carmen, for joining us. We'll let you jump back on the picket line there. And GE also says that yes, they did record record profits in the fourth quarter, but to be a profitable company, they have to keep costs down, and keeping costs down means managing that health care cost, which is their number one cost right now.
GE also pointed out that each one of these strikers today make about $200 a day. They are striking for 48 hours. That's two days worth of wages. That's $400 of wages and benefits that they'll be losing, and GE claims that that far exceeds the amount of money, $200, that they say these workers would have to pay for their increase -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Whitney Casey, live from New York. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 14, 2003 - 13:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, protesting over payments. A lot of companies are increasing employees' share of health care costs, so GE's striking workers say they are making a stand.
CNN's Whitney Casey now brings us up to date from New York -- hi, Whitney.
WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kyra. Well, fortunately, there is no incident here except for freezing cold weather that these strikers have endured, but they remain steadfast. They have been out here since 4:30 this morning, and they plan on protesting for 48 hours.
There are 2,000 here in Schenectady, 17,500 in 23 states across the country. That is only a small percentage, 5 percent, of their global work force at GE. They have 320,000 workers. But it is a very vociferous number. Bringing me -- joining me now, right here -- come over here, Carmen, Carmen DePoalo. He is the union chief.
You know, you guys are only doing this for 48 hours. It's 48 hours, so what do you hope to accomplish with just a two-day strike?
CARMEN DEPOALO, IUE LOCAL 301: What we want to do is make sure that when we get to the negotiating table in May, that GE understands that they make a lot of profit and they need to share that with us.
CASEY: They make a lot of profit, but 75 percent, they say, of companies like GE, the larger companies, are now not only making a lot of profit but having to pay higher costs for medical insurance. So they say it's time to share the burden. What do you say to that?
DEPOALO: It is time to share the burden come May. They jumped the gun five months early. We believe that this was an issue that should have been discussed at the contract table in May, and that we could have probably gotten a settlement and wouldn't have no strike today, and I still believe if -- yesterday they says no co-payments, there wouldn't have been a strike today.
We have paid the ultimate sacrifice today, we lost a life in Louisville, which we send out our deep regrets out to our sister's family in Louisville, but that's what unionism is about, paying the ultimate price.
CASEY: Thanks, Carmen, for joining us. We'll let you jump back on the picket line there. And GE also says that yes, they did record record profits in the fourth quarter, but to be a profitable company, they have to keep costs down, and keeping costs down means managing that health care cost, which is their number one cost right now.
GE also pointed out that each one of these strikers today make about $200 a day. They are striking for 48 hours. That's two days worth of wages. That's $400 of wages and benefits that they'll be losing, and GE claims that that far exceeds the amount of money, $200, that they say these workers would have to pay for their increase -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Whitney Casey, live from New York. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
