Shelton Outlines Stakes for IUE-CWA Workers at GE as Company Splits into Thirds

In an op-ed published in Fortune, CWA President Chris Shelton outlined what is at stake for workers at General Electric following the company’s announcement that it plans to split into three separate companies over the next three years.

“With its decision to split, GE stands at a crossroads,” Shelton wrote. “Does the 129-year-old institution want to continue its 40-year track record of disinvesting, de-unionizing, and offshoring its U.S. manufacturing operations? Will GE continue putting our planet and national security at risk or will it choose to be part of a historic rebuilding of America?”

IUE-CWA members at GE have been urging the company to “bring it home” by reinvesting in domestic manufacturing jobs in green energy, military, and commercial aviation. As part of the campaign, they have released a series of powerful video advertisements that highlight the impacts of GE’s offshoring of defense contracted work, and the environmental impacts of GE’s expanding global supply chain.

“Whether GE ultimately continues as one company or three, it needs to stop offshoring,” Shelton notes in his op-ed. “Anything less is a betrayal of workers and will deal a ruinous blow to communities that are fighting harder than ever to survive.”