Come on now....this a great addition to the community....not Walmart jobs...real jobs ones that might be willing to buy my house even though the taxes are sky high.....
Absolutely! The news from GE offers renewed hope to the residents of the Capital Region who seek careers that offer liveable wages. It is my hope that the employment outlook will lead to a revitalized real estate market and that our young educated people will settle here and start a family.
The issue that some (including myself) have is the pack of pandering politicians at every level who lined up to take credit, in most cases undeservedly so, for GE's decision to locate additional workforce at the Schenectady plant. There remains much work to be done to return Schenectady County and the City of Schenectady to its days of grandeur.
SCHENECTADY Pension benefits boosted at GE 130,000 retirees to see increase in payments Dec. 1 BY JASON SUBIK Gazette Reporter
General Electric Co. on Thursday announced details of an increase in pension benefit payments to approximately 130,000 eligible retirees, effective Dec. 1. “We are pleased to provide a pension increase that recognizes the past achievements of GE retirees,” Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt stated. “This improvement provides the largest amounts for those who have been retired the longest and generally have the greatest need.” GE’s $54.7 billion Employee Pension Trust, which is overfunded by more than $15.5 billion, has long been a source of discontent among local GE retirees, prompting protests earlier this year to mark the 20th anniversary of when GE stopped contributing to the pension trust. Workers hired before 2003 continue to pay into the trust. Carmen DePoalo, business agent for Schenectady’s Local 301 of the IUE-CWA, said the pension increase was negotiated as part of his union’s fiveyear deal agreed to in June. “This was something we negotiated at the table, we were thrilled, but this wasn’t something they just handed over. Obviously if they hadn’t given us that we probably would have struck them back in June,” DePoalo said. GE officials estimate that many GE employees who retired before 1993 will see annual pension benefi t increases ranging from 10 percent to 20 percent. DePoalo broke down the increases: GE employees who retired before 1984 will receive an increase of $40 per year of service to the company. Workers who retired between 1984 and 1992 will receive an increase of $30 per year of service. A $20 increase per year of service will go to workers who retired between 1993 and 2000. Workers who retired between 2001 and 2003 will get a $15 increase per year of service. Widows and widowers of retirees will receive half of their deceased spouse’s benefits. At a time when many companies have decided to discontinue pension plans for employees, GE’s decision to release increases to older pensioners was welcomed, but not cheered, by GE retiree Ralph Boyd. “I think it’s a tremendous change in attitude … but we feel it could have been more. We’re grateful. Half a loaf is better than no loaf,” said Boyd, a Niskayuna resident. Boyd said he retired from GE Energy’s Erie Bou- levard plant in 1982 after 35 years of work. He said he receives $700 in pension benefits each month and after Dec. 1 he’ll be due an annual increase of $1,400, which will amount to about $116 in new benefits per month. Boyd continues to argue that more of the overfunded pension fund should be paid to retired workers. “[GE’s] got former CEOs that receive million-dollar pensions — where they get more in a month than a lot of us do all year. Sure, they made tremendous contributions, but so did we,” Boyd said. GE officials defend their record as stewards of the pension trust, stating in a news release that the December increase will mark GE’s eighth voluntary improvement to pension payments since 1980, including an extra month’s pension check paid to about 142,000 pensioners in December 2003. On July 1, 2003, GE set the minimum monthly benefit for retirees at $33 per year of service. GE has repeatedly stated it must keep the pension trust at its high levels to ensure it will be able to continue meeting its pension obligations. There are 210,000 GE retirees collecting benefits from the pension plan and 320,000 active workers on a course to join them, resulting in a total obligation of 530,000.
I know that the GE union has been fighting this for years. And now they finally got it. Companies don't usually do this, nor do they have to, so I commend GE for their effort and for the union's.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
What has happened to the General Electric sign? There are so many bulbs missing, or out, that it looks pitiful. Also, it used to only be red and green at Christmas, now it has those colors all year! Doesn’t anyone care that it is a symbol of our city’s distinct history? JACQUELYN LOTANO Glenville
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