[WILMINGTON, MA - 5/15/2002] — Over 350 workers, unionists, and labor activists rallied on a blustery afternoon ahead of crucial contract negotiations focusing on job security for Ametek workers.

The numbers were far larger than expected despite Wilmington's relative isolation from the Boston area (Wilmington being over 10 miles to the North), constituting a potent example of union solidarity as various locals and their respective jackets were well represented in the informational picket.

IUE-CWA Local 201 that represents Ametek employees also mobilized a large number of workers from their Lynn, Massachusetts GE plant.

IUE-CWA national president Edward Fire traveled from Washington DC to speak at the rally, pledging the financial and moral support of over 700,000 CWA members and CWA's healthy strike fund.

In addition to Fire, Harry Hoglander from John Tierney's Peabody office threw the Congressman's political weight behind Ametek workers. Cassie Watters of Jobs with Justice pledged community support, while Paul Babin, Ametek representative to the IUE-CWA 201 executive board and part of the bargaining team, gave an update on the status of contract negotiations.

With the current three-year contract of the 260 workers at the Wilmington plant set to terminate on June 2, negotiations between the union and management are set to enter into high gear in the coming weeks. So far, the company has not yet conceded on any major demand by the union, and a strike after June 2 is a growing possibility.

Fortunately, IUE-CWA Local 201 is one of the most progressive and actively engaged unions in the region. Jeff Crosby, the local's president, and other members of the executive board including Paul Babin, the Ametek workers' representative, have maintained a strong relationship with anti-globalization activists. In fact, Jeff Crosby led a delegation of workers to Seattle, returning to Massachusetts inspired by the youth with whom they stood shoulder to shoulder against corporate globalization as represented by the WTO.

In the summer of 2000, the growing bond between anti-globalization and labor activists was again illustrated by the solidarity expressed for the Lynn General Electric workers, prompting the Village Voice to highlight the convergence as the "birth of a movement".

Furthermore, Local 201 was the main mover and shaker behind the Northeast Labor Committee on Global Justice which brought busloads of workers to Quebec City to protest the FTAA last spring.

Ironically, IUE-CWA's activism on the globalization front may have been prompted by its major employer General Electric's aggressive pro-globalization stand.

As a chief corporate sponsor of trade deals such as NAFTA and the FTAA, GE has pioneered the practice of global sourcing, earning GE's CEO Jack Welch the nickname "Neutron Jack" for his policy of getting rid of workers while leaving the buildings standing.

Likewise in the case of Ametek, a manufacturer of electronic instruments and electric motors and supplier to the GE aircraft engine division, the intransigence shown at the bargaining table can be traced to GE's marching orders to its suppliers to either "migrate or get out of business".

Even though Ametek's earnings ratio has held steady over the last 5 years, and the company has enjoyed a healthy net profit margin, putting paid to any claims of financial difficulty, GE has been seeking further profit maximization. Through its "every factory on a barge" policy, GE has zealously promoted and even coerced accelerated job migration in both its enterprises and that of its suppliers like Ametek.

It is this same corporate policy that has been hemmorhaging good paying manufacturing jobs out of Massachusetts, and threatening the remaining jobs at plants such as Ametek's with migration, putting downward pressure on salaries and benefits, while enforcing work speed up at the plants.

As such, Ametek represents a very clear local example of the threat that globalization poses to the continued existence of good jobs in our communities. The workers there deserve the support and solidarity of all those fighting for global justice.

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For further Information:

Latest Contract News:

IUE-CWA Local 201
781-593-2281
http://local201iuecwa.org

Opportunities for community solidarity:

Jobs with Justice
617-524-8778
http://massjwj.net