SALEM, Va. – Union workers are fighting to maintain their jobs in an attempt to keep the Salem General Electric Co. manufacturing plant open.
GE officials entered into a bargaining period with the local union chapter.
Vicky Hurley, president of the local International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers - Communications Workers of America, said the union entered into a bargaining process on June 8 with GE in the hope of reaching an arrangement to make it financially feasible to keep the manufacturing plant open.
Hurley said that, no later than 60 days from that date, GE is expected to give the union an answer.
She said the employees remain hopeful that an agreement can be made to save the jobs of the 265 employees who could be affected.
Of the 265 employees who will lose their jobs, 42 percent are eligible for retirement. They will receive severance packages.
Other GE locations or supplier partners will take care of the work the plant handled.
GE is one of the area's largest employers and has been a staple in the community since 1955.
Revenue for the power business dropped 7 percent in the first quarter of 2018 when compared with last year.
The company announced in March that it would permanently lay off 42 employees, citing a significant decline in orders.
If GE makes a final decision to go forward with this transfer of work, it would likely take place over the course of the next 12-24 months.
Prior to the March layoffs, about 570 people worked at the plant. At its peak, the plant employed 3,500 people, according to Mike Stevens, communications director for the city of Salem.
GE’s facility in Salem designed and produced control systems and integrated circuit boards for gas and steam generators, pitch systems for wind turbine blade controls, starters for gas turbines and down-tower assembly for wind power conversion systems.