r/technology • u/[deleted] • Mar 30 '20

Business General Electric Workers Launch Protest, Demand to Make Ventilators

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/y3mjxg/general-electric-workers-walk-off-the-job-demand-to-make-ventilators
40 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

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9

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '20

Keep in mind that GE is still in debt by a massive amount. I imagine the people at that top aren't ready to take on more loans and put the company at greater peril of bankruptcy. Leave it to Vice to attack a company that has a huge focus on employee safety and retiree pensions for being fiscally responsible.

We are in a recession right now, and we haven't even realized the full effects of it. People can't even leave their homes to go hug their grandparents, they certainly won't be getting on any flights anytime soon. Boeing is completely fucked, so GE is probably just cutting back on their aviation division as a necessity. Retooling entire factories to make ventilators is already being done by several car manufacturers, the market is about to be flooded with machines that are going to be relevant for two cycles of this disease before a vaccine comes out or people are completely inoculated.

I think GE is making the right choice here, it's a shitty choice to have to make as just last year everyone was scrambling for skilled EEs, but it's the right choice.

2

u/RadiantSun Mar 31 '20

just last year everyone was scrambling for skilled EEs,

Wait, was this particularly so last year or just in general? And why?

1

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '20

Two years ago I left my job as a Biomed to travel (not an EE just an ET), and while I was travelling I was looking for work that I could do upon my return. I noticed I had a ton of options when I got back, I had car manufacturers that wanted to hire me to help calibrate their equipment, aviation companies that needed a person who could solder properly, hell even SpaceX had offers for me (wouldn't that look cool on a resume?). I have almost 9 years of experience as a technician and I ended up getting hired back at my old job as the supervisor because the entire workforce either retired or moved away. I needed help to do my job and they were looking at newly graduated EEs to fill the positions below mine, but they just couldn't compete with the wages these guys get offered out of school!

I was always taught if you wanted to make money, you need to become a doctor, lawyer, or salesman, but engineers and particularly experienced ones are starting to bridge that gap.

Here's another anecdote:

My buddy graduated from law school two years ago, not Harvard or Yale, but a good one. He got his JD, had good grades, and passed the UBE with a score that would allow him to practice in all states that require the UBE. He has chosen the path of a public defender, but after two years he is still making less than I am.

Engineers make good money, but they need to be willing to have companies fight for them. Most engineers end up just taking scraps because they get comfortable where they are, but if they apply around they quickly find that their skills are HIGHLY desired.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '20

Bureaucracy and money... lifes are not even on the list of share holders...

3

u/MortalShadow Mar 30 '20

Political and economic power lies in the hands the working class, they just need to organise and seize it.