OREANDA-NEWS. June 25, 2015. GE announced details of the proposed four-year labor agreements that will be voted on by members of the IUE-CWA and UE on or about June 30, 2015.

The details come one day after the UE Conference Board endorsed its contract. The IUE-CWA endorsed its contract today.

GE Vice President for Labor Relations Greg Capito said, “We’re pleased we were able to reach a tentative agreement which was recommended by the delegates for their members to ratify. This contract continues to provide an excellent GE job package, and we are hopeful our employees will feel the same.”  

The tentative four-year agreements were reached Sunday after three weeks of bargaining. Among the improvements that will be implemented if the contracts are ratified:

Significant Cash Payments and Wage Increases

Union employees covered by these negotiations will receive approximately \\$15,500 in additional compensation over the next four years:

  • \\$2,000 ratification bonus
  • Three accelerated cash payments totaling \\$8,000
  • Four fixed cost of living adjustments (COLAs) and one general wage increase

Enhanced Health Care Benefits & Simplified Process at Affordable Costs

  • No increases to health care contributions in 2016
  • No increase in deductibles or co-insurance maximums for the 4 year contract period
  • Expanded coverage for medical, pharmacy, dental and vision
  • Two new features – a single GE Pharmacy Card and an auto reimbursement process – to help employees more easily manage their healthcare expenses

Boost to GE Pensions and Enhancements to GE’s Retirement Savings Plan

  • Up to 6.25% improvements in the Guaranteed Pension table
  • A one-time update will raise the Regular Pension for eligible long-service union employees by an average of 15.9%
  • Eligible union employees will be automatically enrolled in the Retirement Savings Plan and will receive an additional Company Retirement Contribution to boost retirement savings

Valuable Improvements to Other Benefits

  • GE Educational Loan Program benefits will increase by more than 30%
  • GE Adoption Assistance reimbursement will increase 25%
  • Increases for short and long term disability benefits
  • Dependent Life Insurance eligibility extended to age 26
  • Bereavement benefits expanded
  • Enhanced military pay for annual training
  • Numerous improvements for service shops

More details on these benefits and many additional benefit improvements can be found in GE’s Focus Newsletter at www.geunionnegotiations.com > Contract Details.

The 11 unions affected by these tentative agreements represent approximately 16,500 GE employees in the U.S. They are members of the Coordinated Bargaining Committee (CBC) of unions representing GE employees. National negotiations are conducted with IUE-CWA and the UE, and local contracts are negotiated with other CBC unions.

The IUE-CWA represents approximately 9,300 GE employees, and its labor agreement covers GE locations including Louisville, KY (GE Appliances); Lynn, MA (GE Aviation); and Schenectady, NY (GE Power & Water). The UE represents approximately 3,480 employees and its labor agreement includes Erie, PA (GE Transportation) as the largest site. Contracts negotiated with additional unions at the local level represent the remaining unionized employees.