The headline says it all: END OF AN ERA.

Having been in manufacturing for my entire life, I've seen a ton of businesses come and go, so to make it for over 100 years in ANY business, I have to say "well done."

This is my personal opinion and "take" on a very good article written by Erie Times-News reporter Jim Martin. Jim covers the local business scene here in Erie, PA and always does an amazing job at keeping things as positive as he can, and I appreciate that. Jim has been a great supporter of my work as an advocate for manufacturing, and I know he does his best to be a straight-shooter.

As the article makes clear, the General Electric plant here in Erie has been an enormous part of our manufacturing base. I personally used to see the iconic GE logo brilliantly lit every evening on top of the plant as a child growing up on the east side of Erie.

At one time, the Erie plant built a lot of different products, from toasters to refrigerators. At it's zenith, the Erie plant employed around 15,000 workers.

But - as the late Paul Harvey would say - Here's the Rest of The Story.

Building Trains is Serious Business

Starting any business takes some capital. Starting any manufacturing business takes a lot more. Building trains? Fugget about it. The average locomotive engine weighs almost 500,000 pounds. You need massive buildings, massive cranes, and a massive rail structure just to bring in materials and test the trains you're building. Like this:

The Erie, PA General Electric Plant / GE Transportation

Evolution of The Erie General Electric Plant

The last rendition of the Erie Works was named "GE Transportation." The big push was for the creation of the energy-friendly "Tier IV Engine" and the competition came down to the General Electric plant and a new player on the block: Caterpillar. Now, CAT knows how to build big stuff, so the thought was this could be some serious competition.

In the end, let's just say the the expertise of the Erie GE plant won out. Caterpillar missed the deadline, and GE Transportation Systems went to new heights. How high? The division in Erie was their most profitable, and GE has a LOT of divisions. They actually held their annual shareholders meeting here in Erie as a testimonial to the work that was being done here in Erie.

The Union

From a casual observation point, there has always been some a lot contention between the management at GE and the Local 506 Steelworker's Union. This has been going on as long as I can remember, and my father and I took a ride by the plant back in the 60's to see the union workers picketing at night. A very vivid memory for me, as I still recall the 55-gallon drums being used as fire-pits to keep the strikers warm during the evening. Not a particularly friendly looking group, to say the least. Of course, they always set up camp at the front gates to keep anyone from trying to enter the plant. Those who attempted to do so were labeled "scabs," and the whole scene was one out of the early 1900's labor movement. I don't recall any violence, but even back then it looked like something bad could happen at any time. I think the word "menacing" might work for this purpose.

Generous Electric

If you've lived in Erie as long as I have, then you've heard the stories about how the work really "got done" at the Erie plant.

Several years ago, a very good friend of mine was hired as a second-shift manager there. Over dinner one night, I asked him if it was as bad as I had always heard about.

His reply? "It's worse."

Okay, so here we go: "What do you mean?"

"Well, first of all I have a guy who needs to run at least 10 parts a night. He usually gets those done by 7:00 PM. Then, he goes out to his car, gets his portable television, props it up on his bench and watches TV until midnight."

"Jesus," I said. "What do you do about that?"

"Nothing, unless I want my tires slashed." Whooo-boy. He was just getting started.

"The other night, my boss told me that "Roy" needs to run 50 of these parts tonight, or we're going to have to shut a line down tomorrow. So, I went to "Roy" and explained the situation. He didn't hesitate with his answer: "NO WAY."

"You don't GET it, man. I get paid to run THESE parts, which pay more than THOSE parts."

Rinse and repeat.

"Jesus," I said. "What do you do about that?"

"Nothing, unless I want my tires slashed."

In the end, my buddy did get hired full-time and became a union member. Again - over dinner - he explained his new job, which was winding motor coils.

I asked him how much he was making an hour. "$32.00," he said. Then I asked him this: "If you and I started a shop and sub-contracted this job from GE, what would we pay someone to do this job?"

"Minimum wage." Ouch.

Bullet Points

• In the end, that plant supplied amazingly good wages for over 100 years. 
• Local sub-contractors became millionaires
• When you're building something like trains, the profit margins are so HUGE that your work force can basically work at 30% capacity and you can STILL turn a profit.
• All good things eventually come to an end.

In Closing

As the article states, Westinghouse Airbrake Technologies - WABTEC - has will take over the plant on Monday, February 25, 2019. This is a multi-billion dollar transaction.

With new ownership, the current union contract is finished, so they're trying to come up with something that will work. So far, not so good. The union authorized a "strike vote" just yesterday.

Reading the tea-leaves in the paper, it looks like WABTEC is basically saying the they can keep their $35-an-hour jobs. But they're done with hiring floor-sweepers for $20 an hour.

In other words, the end of the gravy train is upon them.

Several years ago, a phenomenal Erie company - Steris - basically told their union the same thing. New employees would be under a new pay structure.

The union said NO WAY.

Six months later, Steris closed the Erie plant and moved the entire operation to Mexico. 1,200 great-paying jobs were lost in a single day.

I am a big historian, because I believe that there are many lessons to be learned from it.

In this case, I'm pretty sure that nobody has learned a single thing, and history will once again repeat itself.

For no good reason.

***UPDATE***

Yep. They went on strike today. It's just in their DNA. Welcome to Erie, Westinghouse Airbrake Technologies.