Organizing Update

General Electric

Nearly 200 General Electric (GE) Aviation workers in Auburn, Ala., have launched an historic new union organizing campaign with IUE-CWA, becoming the first GE workers to organize a union in nearly a decade. With strong majority support, the workers, who use cutting-edge technology to build the next-generation of aircraft engines, submitted union cards to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) this week. The workers announced their organizing campaign at a rally with support from national and state leaders, including Alabama AFL-CIO President Bren Riley and leaders from Alabama Jobs With Justice and Alabama Interfaith Power and Light.

The workers have faced a wide range of union-busting tactics intended to intimidate them since they began organizing. They report being subjected to mandatory anti-union captive audience meetings, misleading management flyers, unannounced pop-up drug testing, new security cameras to monitor their work, and unlawful threats from managers that their factory will shut down if workers form a union. Despite this, support for the union continues to grow stronger every week.