SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) -- General Electric Co. workers picketed at plants around the country early Tuesday as thousands joined a two-day strike protesting an increase in health care co-payments. In Kentucky, a striker was struck and killed by a police car.þþUnion officials said about 20,000 employees from the International Union of Electronic Workers/Communications Workers of America and the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America were participating in the strike, which officially began at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.þþThe worker who died was hit at about 5 a.m. as she walked between gates at the GE manufacturing plant in Louisville, Ky. The woman, whose name was not immediately released, was carrying a picket sign as she walked in a dimly lit area, according to Dwight Mitchell, a spokesman for Louisville Metro Police.þþShe died at the scene. Louisville authorities say the car was from the police department in nearby Hollow Creek. Mitchell had no further details.þþIt is the first national walkout at GE since 1969, when workers were off the job for about 14 weeks.þþ``It's real cold; it's supposed to get down to zero out there,'' said Carmen DePoalo, business agent for IUE Local 301 in Schenectady, as he waited for strikers to gather at the union hall for picketing outside the GE Power Systems main gate. ``Those people in 1966 and 1969 suffered the cold to pave the way for our future.''þþAt the plant in Schenectady, where General Electric was established in 1892, and a nearby research and development lab, about 2,000 second-shift workers left work at 11 p.m. Monday and the third shift did not report for work, Local 301 President Jose Fernandez said.þþAt GE's aircraft engine plant in Lynn, Mass., workers went on strike at 11 p.m., said Jeff Crosby, Local 201 president. About 300 people rallied in front of the plant.þþOn Jan. 1, GE said it increased certain co-payments for employees participating in the GE Health Care Preferred plan by about $200 per employee in 2003. The company said GE's average health care cost per employee is expected to be $2,350 higher in 2003 than in 1999.þþSince 1999, GE's total health care costs have risen 45 percent, from $965 million to $1.4 billion in 2002, GE said.þþ``It is difficult for businesses to stay globally competitive while sustaining the double-digit percentage increases that we have seen in recent years and expect for the foreseeable future,'' said Bill Conaty, GE's senior vice president for human resources.þþUnion officials said the copay increases will cost the average worker an additional $300 to $400 annually, and that GE is posting record profits and doesn't need additional payments from workers.þþThe strike affects 48 locations in 23 states, union officials said.þþ
Source: NY Times
