FAIRFIELD, Conn. — General Electric Co. unions representing about 17,000 employees said Tuesday that they would stage the company's first national strike in 30 years, walking off the job for two days next week to protest an increase in health-care premiums.
The International Union of Electronic Workers-Communications Workers of America, which represents 13,900 employees and is General Electric's largest union, will strike Jan. 14, the union said in a statement. About 3,000 United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America members also will strike.
The unions represent 5.5% of the company's workforce, and a strike would affect plants in Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. General Electric, the largest maker of jet engines and power-generation equipment, said the health-care payment increase that began Jan. 1 will remain. Employees will pay about $200 a year more for health care, the company said.
"We're going to demonstrate our opposition to this move and exact a price from GE for what they did," said union official Stephen Tormey. "This is a demonstration of what could happen if they continue to recklessly shift more costs onto workers' backs."
