When General Electric Co.'s unions mounted a two-day strike in January over increases in health insurance co-payments, labor leaders considered it an opening shot across management's bow. Now, there's a full-scale battle brewing as the clock winds down on labor pacts covering the company's 24,000 unionized workers, set to expire in mid-June. GE has managed to avoid bargaining meltdowns for many years, but a host of factors is complicating CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt's first round of labor negotiations (table). Far from backing off after the January strike, the first in more than 30 years, GE wants to shift even more health-care costs onto workers. At the same time, labor has equally ambitious demands, including a doubling of pension benefits for its graying workforce.
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机译：当通用电气公司的工会在一月份举行了为期两天的罢工，以提高健康保险自付额时，劳工领袖们认为这是管理层低头的开端。现在，随着有关该公司24,000名工会工人的劳工协定的时钟逐渐过去，一场全面的战斗正在酝酿之中，该协定将于6月中旬到期。多年来，GE一直努力避免讨价还价的崩溃，但是许多因素使首席执行官Jeffrey R. Immelt的第一轮劳动谈判变得复杂化（表）。 GE远没有退缩，而是希望将更多的医疗保健费用转移给工人，这是30年来的第一次。同时，劳动也同样具有雄心勃勃的要求，包括为其灰白的劳动力增加一倍的养老金。
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