When Neil Armstrong made his historic first step on the moon almost 50 years ago, the silicone rubber in his boots was made along the banks of the Hudson River in Waterford, New York, just north of Albany in Saratoga County. The plant, once owned by General Electric began operating in 1947, and is now Momentive Performance Materials. The plant was the scene of a strike from November 2016 until February of last year with health benefits a major demand of the workers.
Journalist Ian Frisch recently wrote a storyabout the strike for longreads.com.
Frisch spoke with WAMC’s Brian Shields about the strike and why health care was so important to the workers.
WAMC contacted Momentive for comment but we did not hear back in time for broadcast.
