Auburn WAGE Press Release

Press Release
For immediate release: Monday, August 22, 2005
For more information contact: Tom Casey

Auburn GE workers air concerns about impact of trade laws on Maine jobs with Congressman Michaud

Auburn – Leaders of the Auburn WAGE (Working At GE) Committee met with Congressman Michael Michaud on August 21 to discuss their concerns about the impact of U.S. and international trade deals on the good paying jobs that remain in Maine.

The Auburn WAGE Committee is alarmed that GE and other multinational corporations have exploited trade deals like NAFTA and the WTO to export good paying jobs to lower wage countries where workers have fewer rights and more lenient environmental laws.

GE has already shifted some jobs from Auburn to lower wage countries. For example, some 36 different parts that were made in Auburn and three assembly machines have gone to a GE plant in Mexico.

After hearing about the situation at GE, Rep. Michaud pledged to contact the company and explore ways to preserve good jobs at the Auburn plant.

“Unless something is done soon, the good jobs our community needs are at risk,” said Tom Casey, an 18-year machinist at GE and resident of Auburn. “The recent passage of CAFTA (the Central America Free Trade Agreement) will only encourage more job losses. We’ve got to stop the government and big companies from using these trade laws to pit workers against each other. It only results in a race to the bottom that workers can’t win.”

CAFTA will eliminate tariffs from the United States, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua while giving new protections to U.S. multinational companies for operating outside our country. It will extend to Central America the disastrous job loss and environmental damage caused by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

A recent report by Human Rights Watch highlighted how workers in Central America and the Dominican Republic are often denied the right to form unions and bargain collectively. The Bush administration refused to include workers' rights in CAFTA.

“We thanked Congressman Michaud for standing up for good jobs and opposing CAFTA,” added Casey. “But now that CAFTA has passed, we need to work with him on new legislation and other measures to stop the further erosion of good jobs from Auburn.”

Auburn WAGE is a group of GE employees who are working together to improve their wages and working conditions. Pictures from the meeting and additional background about GE are available from IUE-CWA organizer Rand Wilson at rwilson@local201iuecwa.org