Celebration honors nine workers retiring from GE Somersworth (WAGE Bulletin)

Over 50 General Electric employees, family and friends attended a special party at the Gateway Restaurant on Thursday, October 27 to celebrate the retirement of nine workers from the Somersworth GE plant. The party was sponsored by the Somersworth WAGE ("Workers at GE") Committee.

Long-time WAGE leader and 36 year GE employee Jack Quinn from Rochester received a special plaque recognizing "His outstanding service on behalf of his co-workers and his tireless support for workers' rights at General Electric."

Quinn and the other eight retirees are leaving the company on a special union-negotiated program that allows workers with high seniority to take early retirement without reductions in pension, supplements, and medical benefits. The program, known as the Special Early Retirement Option (SERO), also mandates that the company replace each vacant position, creating upgrade opportunities for existing employees and new job openings for younger workers in the community.

Upon receiving the award, Quinn told the gathering, "We should all be grateful to the union members who won the SERO for us in their contract negotiations with GE. In my case, it means that I could get out four years early."

Quinn closed the festivities with an appeal to his co-workers, "People at the plant often need somebody to stick up for them, and that's what our WAGE committee is all about. Don't ever give up. Join WAGE so that we can keep our managers on their toes."