GE workers getting a pay raise

A national labor contract for General Electric workers would increase pay by 16 percent over four years, while calling for higher medical payments from workers.

The tentative deal was approved Tuesday and today by top officials from GE’s two largest unions, said Dennis Hayda, a union steward at the GE lighting plant in Niles.

Local unions have until June 28 to ratify the contract, which was reached by negotiators Sunday. Details were withheld until leaders of the conference boards of the two unions could vote on the contract in meetings in New York.

Hayda, an official with United Electric Workers Local 751, said the deal shows that companies can survive and pay their workers a decent wage. Local jobs at GE pay between $18 and $20 an hour, although skilled workers make more.

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