(Source: United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America
(UE) press release, February 27, 2019)
ERIE, Pa. — The strike by members of UE Locals 506 and 618 against the massive concessions imposed by Wabtec when they took over the locomotive plant on Monday immediately drew national (and international) attention. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Huffington Post, The Nation, In These Times, CBS News MoneyWatch, Yahoo Finance and more all ran stories on the strike on Tuesday, the day UE members walked off the job and set up picket lines at the former GE Transportation plant in Erie.
The strike has generated an outpouring of support from the Erie community. “The community is being incredibly supportive,” says UE General President Peter Knowlton, who is in Erie to support the strike. “People just stopping by dropping off coffee, donuts, food, and wood for the burn barrels. This is a fight of a small city in the rust belt taking on a greedy corporation.” Community members, including Erie County United, an organization that fights for family-sustaining jobs and strong communities, stood with UE members on the picket lines in the cold and snow yesterday.
The Erie community also demonstrated their support on social media, sharing a graphic made by Local 506 declaring “UE is my union, my neighbor, my kid, my aunt, my town, ME” almost 600 times on Facebook.
Support has come from outside Erie as well, from both political and labor leaders. U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders released a video, “CEO’s are Ripping Off Working Families,” which highlights the UE strike in Erie, stating “The fight that they are fighting in Erie, Pennsylvania is a fight that reflects the needs of millions of workers throughout this country.” Sanders wishes UE members “the best of luck in their struggle” and urges Wabtec to come back to the table and “treat their workers with respect and dignity.”
UE has also received numerous messages of support on Twitter, which can be found on UE’s twitter feed at @ueunion.