[emailpetition id=”4″]
(Signatures listed at the bottom of the page)
More information:
General Electric is laying off workers due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. However, they might have a better option. According to a report on AdWeek.com
At General Electric, some plant workers walked off the job Monday because they want the company to shift factories to produce the much-needed ventilators increasingly sought by desperate hospitals. The picket comes one week after GE announced plans to fire about 2,600 workers and temporarily lay off another 50% of its workforce for three months. In a letter, GE leadership said the layoffs would save the company $500 million to $1 billion, but later that week President Trump signed a stimulus package designed to pour money into defense contractors like GE.
The facts are:
- GE gets $3+ Billion in US Military contracts.
- GE get $Billions in Fed bailouts.
- But are laying off workers.
- GE workers already make ventilators. So GE could easily expand production.
According to an article in the Boston Business Journal,
The unions are asking GE to begin immediate discussions about manufacturing ventilators at its aviation, generator and lighting facilities. GE last week announced plans to lay off roughly 2,600 aviation employees in the U.S. because of the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic. Hospitals across the country face a severe shortage of ventilators, equipment necessary to save the lives of those most affected by the coronavirus.
“Our country depends on these highly skilled workers, and now they wonder why they are facing layoffs, instead of having the opportunity to use their unbelievable skills to help save lives,” CWA President Chris Shelton told reporters Monday.
President Trump’s initiative to pour money into defense is misplaced if it goes to manufacture standard military weapons when we are in dire need of medical equipment to defend ourselves against the Coronavirus caused Pandemic.
US AID has pledged only $65 Million in International COVID-19 assistance. This puny amount is what the Pentagon gets in 1 hour in the US military budget. $765 Billion @ year is $2 Billion / day or $60 million / hour for war. General Electric, like USAID is a long time arm of the pursuit of US Global hegemony.
It is time for both Government and Industry to re-prioritize:
Fund people’s needs not war.
Build Ventilators, Not Bombers.
*Featured Image: General Electric employees protest outside the GE headquarters to try and persuade the company to make more ventilators. ~Gary Higgins / Boston Business Journal
[signaturelist id=”4″]
Not curious to note only 60 people have signed onto this petition that should have millions of Americans supporting it. Just more evidence that our greatest addiction is not opioids but militarism…we need to find a way for a cure…putting dollars into arms industry workers pockets is the tactic of corporate America that makes our struggle almost insurmountable—almost!
jack Gilroy
http://www.bensalmon.org
The interconnectedness of all life on this planet is very obvious now . We must make choices with each other in mind.
This corona is a crown of thorns. It fits all of us. No boundaries. We must distill this plague and learn to love and care for each other. Dear General Electric, find in your heart a way to help. This plague knows no boundaries. No blood is red enough to defy its gravity. Ventilators made by you could save valuable lives. Perhaps even yours.
While GE is a major defense contractor, as far as I know it doesn’t make bombs, so I think the slogan is stupid. I think its major military engines and electronic components. Maybe make ventilators, not bomber engines.
Point well taken. Lockheed Martin split with GE years ago. Correction made