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SCHENECTADY
Furloughs for 850 GE workers to begin on Monday
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    A planned furlough of an estimated 850 unionized workers at General Electric’s campus in Schenectady and Rotterdam will begin Monday, a company official said. GE employs approximately 4,000 people across the campus.
    The furlough will last nine weeks, part of a contract amendment that IUE-CWA Local 301 approved with GE a year ago. As part of the agreement, workers will receive 75 percent of their pay during the shutdown.
    The shutdown affects manufacturing operations for steam turbines and generators only.
    Officials say the contract avoided the potential loss of permanent hourly jobs through June 2011 and allowed for construction of the $100 million battery plant to be built on the GE campus.
    “In the big picture, this avoids permanent layoffs as we face the impacts of the global recession,” said GE spokeswoman Chris Horne.
    GE will keep 170 maintenance and trade workers active during the furlough on special projects, Horne said. Salaried workers at the facility also will work during the shutdown, completing required training, but will be asked to take mandatory vacation time, she said.
    The contract amendment was to a four-year national agreement ratified in 2007. It guarantees no permanent hourly workforce reductions through June 19, 2011; places a moratorium on plant closings, transfers or both on production work through June 19, 2011; and offers a voluntary retirement incentive for Local 301 employees age 60 and older during 2010, based on years of service. ...................>>>>..............>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00702&AppName=1