GE hiring for new locomotive plant in Tx, says will not replace the one in Erie Pa.....cough cough

[pinto]

1. Seems a mixed bag -

In all, the GE facility could employ 875 by 2016 - with most employees at the factory earning from $18 to $23.50 per hour. Those are competitive wages in the Texas market, a GE official said, although according to a union official the rate is about $10 an hour less than what's being paid for the same work at GE's locomotive plant in Pennsylvania.

Even so, the jobs rank with other higher-paying manufacturing jobs in the area. For example, in September 2011, union workers at General Motors nationwide -- including GM's Arlington plant -- approved a new four-year contract providing profit-sharing rather than raises for many employees. At the time, entry-level GM workers were receiving a base wage of $15.78, about half what longtime workers were paid. The new contract raised the base pay by 22 percent.