FORT EDWARD -- Paul Rosati is staring into the abyss.
A Queensbury resident and an employee of General Electric Co., his job is on the line if the company approves the elimination of about 30 jobs at its Fort Edward plant.
"I'm scared," Rosati said. "I'm not only scared for now, but we don't envision the plant being here in five years."
More than 50 members of the local No. 332 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers union Friday afternoon protested the possible closure of two departments at the GE plant on Broadway.
The company is proposing to stop making two product lines manufactured in Fort Edward. The polypropylene film and the small component capacitor manufacturing departments would be eliminated.
GE spokeswoman Christine Horne said the polypropylene film department will be eliminated because the manufacturing industry has switched to a new type of film technology that GE doesn't produce in Fort Edward.
"The technology has changed and we can't be cost competitive," she said.
About 200 people work at the plant.
Many of the workers
protesting outside the facility carried signs with messages such as, "Save our jobs," or, "Keep jobs in Fort Edward." The workers waved and cheered as passing drivers sporadically honked their horns in support.
It was the second such rally to protest the proposed layoffs since October, when employees first heard of the plan.
Wearing sunglasses and carrying a bullhorn, union business manager Bruce Reese said plant workers remain tense over the impending layoffs.
"They're just working understaffed," he said. "That's the new way of doing business - doing more with less."
The union will decide next month if it will hold more rallies, he said.
"We're going to still try to keep the jobs - show how they manage the plant is part of the problem," Reese
said. "If need be, we'll do another demonstration. It's basically up to the membership."
In an emailed statement, Horne, said the company
has not made any final
decisions regarding the layoffs that have been proposed.
"After careful consideration of all recommendations, we will determine a final plan that we feel best supports the interests of the business and the affected employees," Horne said in the statement.
The departments under consideration for elimination are not the core components of the Fort Edward facility, she said.
"The business has taken several steps to reduce costs but these actions have been insufficient," she
wrote.
Bill Donahue has seen a lot of changes in the 35 years he's worked for GE.
When he started at the Fort Edward plant, it employed 2,000.
"It's a heart-wrenching thing," he said. "It's like deja vu all over again."
Posted in Local on Friday, November 20, 2009 5:15 pm Updated: 11:53 pm. | Tags: Ge, Layoffs
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