Former Widget Financial CMO later apologized to "hard working" union members.

An executive of an Erie credit union founded by and for General Electric employees lost his job after bashing "union bullies" and "UE fools" at the Lawrence Park plant, now owned by Wabtec, in an online post Friday.

Trent Mason had been chief marketing officer at the Widget Financial credit union. His employment was "terminated" Saturday morning, Widget President and CEO Gail Cook said.

Mason, in a separate social media post, said that he resigned the position.

Mason remarked on labor negotiations at the Wabtec plant in a comments section on a local television station website.

Mason's post said that Wabtec doesn't need union stewards to treat employees fairly and "wants to pay fair wages and employ people in our community who would gladly take those jobs that these workers cling to."

Mason called the union's position on wages and working conditions "a really sad situation."

"Sadder still," Mason said in the post, "is that a lot of other people's success is tied to these UE fools."

Mason additionally called union members "close-minded, scared, bullied and brainwashed."

The union at the plant, the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, needs to be broken, Mason said in the post.

"Sorry, dinosaurs, but your union is the worst kind. UE is a disgusting and corrupt relic of a bygone day and they need to be broken heartily and swiftly before they destroy a great opportunity for our region forever," Mason said.

Cook called Mason's comments "unacceptable" and inconsistent with the credit union's long ties to GE union workers.

"We were the GE credit union when this credit union was founded in 1936. The name changed and there were a number of mergers over the years, but we are still here to serve the Erie community and (GE) employees. Our main headquarters is across the road from the plant," Cook said.

The credit union is not now affiliated with General Electric, Wabtec or the UE union.

Cook was in her office early Saturday "doing damage control" following Mason's post. Cook said that she learned of the post late in the day Friday and spoke with Mason by phone late Friday night as she considered the best course of action.

"I called him this morning and said that I was terminating his employment," Cook said Saturday.

In a Saturday letter to credit union and United Electrical Workers Union members, Cook said that Mason's views were "inappropriate, disrespectful" and "vastly inconsistent" with the credit union's values and its founders' legacy.

"The views he shared are vastly inconsistent with our credit union's core values and what we as an organization feel is a duty to honor the legacy of the founders of your credit union whose hard work, dedication and sacrifice have made Widget Financial the organization it is today," Cook said.

"We count among our members, friends, families and neighbors many current and former UE members, and as such found the comments by Mr. Mason to be disturbing, and in stark contrast with our mission of effectively serving our membership and contributing to the health, wealth and prosperity of the Erie region," Cook said.

Cook concluded the letter saying, "On behalf of the Board of Directors and the staff of Widget Financial, we sincerely apologize for the inappropriate and disrespectful comments made by a former employee."

Mason apologized for his remarks and "any offense I may have personally caused" in another social media post this weekend, addressing the apology to "the hard working members of UE 506."

"This is a time when tensions are already high in an important labor dispute for the Erie region and there are a lot of good men and women working to find solutions," Mason said. "Simply put, I let my own ignorance boil over into harsh words that were neither helpful nor productive."

Mason worked at Widget Financial for 10 years.

Valerie Myers can be reached at 878-1913 or by email. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ETNmyers.