Every time GE further enriches itself at our expense the excuse is the same — the need to be more "COMPETITIVE"! So whether it’s more farmouts, job combinations, insurance cost shifting, or turning thumbs down to our contract proposals, GE blames what they call "the tide of global competition".

But if we take a hard look at GE’s globe, we can find no competition worthy of the name, for in every significant measure of economic performance GE dwarfs the so-called competition.

Take profits per employee for instance, a good measure of worker productivity. It turns out that GE is making four times as much profit per employee as its closest domestic competitor.

But what about those "global competitors in Europe and Asia?

It seems that they are no problem for GE either. In fact the only global competition GE workers need to worry about is from GE’s own foreign operations.

GE's Major Foreign Competitors Profits Per Worker, 2002 (in thousands) Philips Toshiba Hitachi Rolls-Royce ABB Siemens Electrolux Mitsubishi GE

Invoking the specter of the competition is an example of GE’s "imagination at work". Not only do they have scores of "joint ventures" with the so-called competition, but GE buys over 100 companies a year on average. That’s about two per week!

GE workers should indeed be rewarded based
on "competitiveness". When THAT happens,
we will easily have the best wages
and benefits in the entire world.

United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE)
One Gateway Center • Pittsburgh, PA 15222 • 412-471-8919
www.ranknfile-ue.org

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