House Votes to Kill RMT and Keep Manufacturing Jobs at GE

CWAers won two big victories in Congress last week. In separate votes, the House of Representatives voted to ban the Reverse Morris Trust tax loophole and to retain a valuable jet engine program that means 2,000 jobs.

By a 215-204 vote, the House voted to ban the Reverse Morris Trust tax loophole, which has allowed companies like Verizon to sell assets to smaller or sometimes financially shaky companies to get a tax break. Specifically because of this tax loophole, Verizon sought out companies like FairPoint in northern New England and Frontier in West Virginia and 13 other states to sell its landlines. FairPoint has filed for bankruptcy, affecting workers' jobs and quality service.

The measure to ban the RMT now moves to the Senate.

In another big victory for good jobs, the House voted to retain funding for an alternative engine for the F-136 Joint Strike Fighter that is built by 1,200 IUE-CWAers at General Electric in Lynn, Mass.  

IUE-CWA members worked hard to persuade lawmakers that the program was good for competition, holding costs down in the defense industry over the long term.

A video message from Jeff Crosby, president of IUE-CWA Local 81201, was sent to every congressional office, providing a "worker's perspective" on the importance of saving the engine and jobs. "Lynn, Massachusetts, is about as good a place as any in the United States to make a stand for manufacturing," he said.

This fight now moves to the Senate.