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September 3, 2006
General Electric Co. in Lynn is hiring new laborers. The 18 graduates of the E-Team machinists/welders training program found jobs. Aerospace machinists at a GE vendor are thinking about organizing. Child-care workers at Job Options Inc. in Lynn have a first contract.
Labor Day brings good news for some local workers. And while there are still plenty of battles -- saving jobs from being shipped overseas among them -- the overall picture is solid, a local labor leader said.
``We're in good shape," said Jeff Crosby, president of the North Shore Labor Council , based in Lynn. ``A lot of attitudes have changed. I think businesses understand they need a good, well-trained labor force for them to succeed."
Demand for machinists continues to grow. After 10 years, the E-Team, a machinists training program jointly launched by the labor council and the Essex County Community Organization in Lynn, has sent a steady supply of skilled workers into the pipeline. In June, the 18 new graduates had their pick of jobs, Crosby said.
``They didn't even have to do a job fair this year," he said. ``The companies came knocking. A machinist job is still a good way to make a living. And right now, the average machinist is in their 50s, getting ready to retire. There is a lot of opportunity."
New opportunity has also cropped up at GE's aircraft engine plant. The plant, once routinely hit by rounds of layoffs, has hired a couple hundred machinists and craftspeople over the last few years. Union workers now account for 2,300 of the plant's 3,900 total workforce, Crosby said.
``The numbers aren't huge," said Crosby, who also is the president of IUE-Local 201, GE's largest union in Lynn. ``But the few hundred jobs they've added are a help. GE is more stable. Not long ago, people thought GE wouldn't be here, but it is."
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