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What to know about GE's move out of its Boston headquarters

The General Electric logo appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, June 26, 2018. General Electric is splitting itself into three public companies that concentrate on aviation, health care and energy. (Richard Drew/AP File)
The General Electric logo appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, June 26, 2018. General Electric is splitting itself into three public companies that concentrate on aviation, health care and energy. (Richard Drew/AP File)

Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here


The Celtics picked up where they left off last night. (Unfortunately for me, so did the Lakers.) Here's where we're picking up on this crisp morning:

Six years ago, General Electric envisioned a glassy, 12-story campus on the banks of Fort Point Channel as its headquarters. Yesterday, the company told its Boston workers that they're moving out. According to a GE spokesman, the company is winding down its physical space in Boston and plans to find a smaller office in the city early next year. It's a conspicuous end to a move that began with lots of fanfare and tax incentives — not to mention the former mayor in a big, Adele-inspired fur coat.

GE says it plans to keep its HQ in Boston, but the 100,000-square-foot Seaport property was more than it ever ended up needing. While they had planned to bring 800 jobs to the new HQ, "fewer than 200 people are based there now and many only come in on a part-time basis," according to The Boston Globe. It's unclear how many people GE plans to keep at the new location.

The big picture: A lot has changed for GE since it announced its plan in 2016 to move its headquarters from Connecticut to Boston — not much of it good. As Planet Money explains here, the iconic company overextended itself during the previous decades, made risky moves and never really recovered from the financial crisis. Last year, GE announced a plan to split itself into three different companies focused on aviation, healthcare and energy.

The local angle: GE said in 2019 that it would scale back its Boston HQ plans and reimburse the state for its investments in the property. (It also canceled its tax incentive deal with the city).

What's next: The company has been emphasizing a "lean" business plan a lot lately. The Boston news also coincided with announcements that GE will sell its longtime training campus in New York, as well as downsize corporate offices in Connecticut and New York City.

Public schools in Haverhill will be closed yet again today, as the district's teachers continue to strike for higher pay and smaller class sizes. The teachers union is facing an increasing risk of financial fines for the work stoppage, as it enters its third day. That's because public-sector worker strikes are illegal under state law.

WBUR's Max Larkin reports that school and state officials have secured a court injunction against the strike and are asking a judge to fine the union $50,000 for each day the strike goes on. Superior Judge Joseph Lang has yet to impose fines, but has asked the union to take steps to comply with his order by this morning.

The two sides were reportedly close to a deal Tuesday night, but school officials said that negotiations ultimately stalled out.

You'll be able to ride the Blue Line late into the evening for the rest of the week after all. MBTA officials announced yesterday that they're postponing the rest of the planned Blue Line mini-closure this week, after just one night of the late-night service suspension.

Why? Well, the first night didn't go great. According to an MBTA spokeswoman, shuttle buses weren't able to run consistent service Monday night due to detours and lane closures from simultaneous road work happening on I-93 and the Sumner and Callahan tunnels: "This resulted in a level of service that MBTA staff felt was inadequate for our riders," the T's Lisa Battiston told me.

According to Battiston, the MBTA is working with MassDOT to find new dates — when there isn't other road work on I-93 and the two East Boston tunnels — for the Blue Line diversion.

P.S.— Come meet World Cup champion Briana Scurry at WBUR CitySpace tonight! She'll joining On Point host Meghna Chakrabarti for a discussion about about her career and the impact of head injuries. Chakrabarti will also talk to researchers from Boston University’s CTE Center about their recent work on the types of hits that have the most long-term consequences for athletes. Both in-person and virtual tickets are free!

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Nik DeCosta-Klipa Newsletter Editor
Nik DeCosta-Klipa is the newsletter editor for WBUR.

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