More than 600 GE Aerospace workers went on strike early Thursday morning at the aircraft engine supplier’s Ohio and Kentucky facilities after the company and United Auto Workers Local 647 failed to reach a deal before the contract expired, according to the UAW's press release.
The UAW members at the Evendale, Ohio, plant focus on assembling operations for GE Aerospace’s aeroderivative engines, which are used for marine and industrial applications. The Erlanger, Kentucky, facility is a parts distribution warehouse.
The two parties began negotiations on July 31, a GE Aerospace spokesperson said in an email. The company’s proposal included an 18% increase in payroll contributions for healthcare costs and a 12% wage increase over a three-year period. The offer also included increased sick and personal leave pay, as well as three additional days of paid vacation, according to the company’s website.
A GE Aerospace spokesperson said the company is proud of the proposal but is disappointed UAW leaders decided to go on strike before union workers could vote on the offer.
“We remain focused on serving our customers and have activated a detailed contingency plan, deploying experienced and qualified GE Aerospace employees to ensure continued operations with the highest levels of safety and quality,” the spokesperson said in an email.
Local 647 workers “felt the company’s last offer did not meet their core issue demands: job security, health care costs, pay, and time off,” according to UAW’s press release.
“Our members aren’t asking to be millionaires,” Brian Strunk, UAW Local 647 president, said in a statement. “We are simply demanding things that every worker deserves: decent healthcare and a secure future. We are going to stand together as a united membership until we win what we are owed.”
UAW President Shawn Fain called out the company’s earnings and CEO Larry Culp’s compensation in his remarks to the union on Thursday morning. The company’s net revenue for the six months of 2025 increased by 16% year over year to approximately $21 billion, according to a July securities filing. Culp’s compensation saw an over 505% increase, going from $14.7 million in 2023 to approximately $89 million in 2024, according to GE Aerospace’s annual reports. Culp’s compensation from last year included a $2.25 million base salary and an $6.8 million annual bonus, with the rest of his compensation comprised of stock.
“The CEO of GE makes nearly 1,300 times the median worker wage at this company,” Fain said. “But when it comes to the workers who build the products, who sacrifice day in and day out, suddenly the company don't have the money. We hear the same old story time and time again. The company rakes in billions. The CEO is lavished with millions.”
A date for when the two parties will resume talks has not been disclosed. While UAW employees are on strike, GE Aerospace will continue to provide benefits to the striking union members in accordance with the law, according to the company's website. The company also offered to pay a fine if a union member decides to cross the picket line and work.
UAW Local 647 is the third union negotiation in which GE Aerospace was involved over the summer, but it is the only one that was unsuccessful.
Earlier this month, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 912, which represents over 600 workers at the Evendale facility, ratified its five-year contract with the company. More than half of the IAM-represented workers are involved in facilities maintenance, while others work in various assembly and test roles, primarily for aeroderivative engines, the GE Aerospace spokesperson said.
In July, the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers - Communications Workers of America ratified a new four-year contract with the company. IUE-CWA represents 2,200 employees across four sites in Kentucky, Massachusetts, Kansas and New York.
GE Aerospace is the latest in a series of labor strikes in the aerospace industry. In early August, more than 3,200 Boeing workers walked out of the planemaker’s Illinois and Missouri facilities after they voted to reject the company’s second contract offer. IAM District 837 and Boeing have met twice since the strike began, but have not made progress.
Talks between the two parties are expected to resume after Labor Day, an IAM spokesperson said in an email.
