GE engine plant in Grove City, PA

Despite the recent bad news for GE's locomotive assembly plant in Erie, PA, things are still looking good for GE's engine plant in Grove City, PA, where they build various engines such as the FDL, GEVO, P616, L250, V228, V250, etc.

From The Herald of Sharon, Pennsylvania:

The Herald wrote:General Electric Transportation said Tuesday it will cut up to 950 jobs at its Erie plant, but its Grove City locomotive engine operations are not affected.
. . .
GE’s locomotive engine plant in Grove City is non-union and over the last two years has undergone $72 million in expansions and upgrades. The company bought the former Reynolds packaging plant in Pine Township which will handle engine remanufacturing. Both the expansion and upgrades will continue through 2014.

Since the expansion began, GE has hired about 100 workers for the Grove City operation. When the expansion is completed, the company’s local employment is expected to be nearly 1,000. The company is the largest manufacturer in Mercer County.

Read more at: http://sharonherald.com/business/x13191 ... t-affected

So, we knew that you subscribed to the Erie paper-- sensible enough with an interest in GE locomotives. But the Sharon Herald?
(Grin!)
Thanks for linking that-- I didn't knowthat Grove City was non-union.
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For anyone unfamiliar with the nomenclature, only three basic diesel engine types are involved. P616 is what's used on the Powerhaul locomotive (British Class 70) and its derivatives that GE and its Turkish partner are trying to market. V228 is what the FDL engine is called when it is marketed for non-locomotive (stationary and marine) uses. V250 is similarly the non-locomotive designation of the GEVO, and L250 is the inline 6 version of the GEVO: currently marketed for non-locomotive applications... but CP's recent purchase of 2000 hp units from another locomotive builder (who shall not be named! But the GE press release about moving locomotive assembly to Texas cited said builder's low-wage non-union work force in explaining the move...) suggests that the market for "intermediate power road switchers" may finally be becoming perceptible. And the L250, relabeled "GEVO-6," is the obvious power for a new generation U23B.

Allen Hazen wrote:I didn't knowthat Grove City was non-union.

I was surprised by that as well. Would be interesting to know what the wages are like there.

The wages are very similar to Erie's. However to get the rebuild facility/investment there, the new hires had to fall under a new wage tier. The new tier is quite a bit less, even lower than what is paid in Texas. While GC is non union, some have been pushing for one the past few months.