SCHENECTADY — Forty years ago, thousands of workers a day streamed in and out of the General Electric plant on Erie Boulevard. On Saturday, former GE machinist Fred Pfeiffer was among a lonely knot of nine people from the Occupy Schenectady movement who stood outside the quiet main gate.

"Where did the jobs go? Overseas," Pfeiffer and the group chanted. "Where do we want them? Home." Nearby, a white pickup truck holding a lone security guard kept watch.

Pfeiffer lost his job in the mid-1980s when GE sent the work to Mexico, he said. Two decades ago, about 8,400 people worked at the plant; currently, there are about 3,500. Employment peaked at about 45,000 immediately after World War II.

"We used to put thousands of people out here on this street in job actions," said Pfeiffer. "It has taken decades to get to this low point."

During the 1990s, GE demolished the building where he and other workers used to make turbine blades, one of dozens of buildings razed at the sprawling, 600-acre industrial campus. Lost assessments translated into steep property tax increases for home and business owners.

Not far from the protesters was the former Subway Tunnel, which connected the plant to a once-vibrant strip of restaurants and shops on lower Broadway, and was used by thousands of workers each day. GE welded the tunnel doors shut in the mid-90s as employment at the plant plummeted.

This fall, the relationship between corporate power, the individual, and the economic recession now entering its third year sparked the Occupy Wall Street movement. It became part of the political debate as it quickly spread to many other cities and countries around the world.

Occupy Schenectady organizer Lorri Carr, whose father was also a GE machinist during the 1950s, said Saturday's small march to the plant marked a day that local Occupy groups were encouraged by national organizers to rally around local issues.

She said the group chose General Electric, which for decades has been the city's dominant employer, because of two main issues — the corporation's outsourcing of jobs overseas over the years and the fact that it legally did not have to pay any federal corporate income taxes in 2009 and 2010, despite billions in profits,

Carr said GE deserves praise for its work in wind turbines, and alternative energy, but "we have to call them on the things that they should not be doing, as well ... We have to look after the needs of our community, and speak up about issues of job losses and an unfair tax structure."

GE spokeswoman Christine Horne said criticism of the corporation was not fair. GE has added 12,000 jobs in the U.S. during the last three years, she said, including 1,400 in the Capital Region.

Also, the company pays about $18 million a year in local property taxes, she added.

A bit of entrepreneurism showed itself at the GE march. Bronx native Howard Cash, who was part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, came with a variety of Occupy buttons that he had for sale.

He was not present when New York City police broke up the occupy encampment in Zuccotti Park last month, but he said the end of the protest actually helped the effort. "This will allow the movement to be unleashed, and not be just about maintaining the camp," he said.

Reach Nearing at 454-5094 or bnearing@timesunion.com.