ERIE, Pa. (AP) — The chief executive officer of GE Transportation says the locomotive maker has "decided to move forward" with plans to eliminate 950 union jobs at a century-old locomotive manufacturing plant in northwestern Pennsylvania.
The Erie Times-News (http://bit.ly/11PAZWX) reports CEO Lorenzo Simonelli's final announcement came Wednesday, several days after talks to save some of the jobs failed.
GE had offered to retain about 410 of the workers in exchange for contract concessions, including a two-year wage freeze and lower starting salaries for new workers. But Scott Duke, president of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America local, says that deal was rejected because it didn't preserve enough jobs and there was uncertainty about other details.
The cuts will begin in October and leave the company, Erie's largest employer, with about 4,400 workers.
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Information from: Erie Times-News, https://www.goerie.com/
