GE Appliances Workers Brace For Closure
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowState, company and local officials are detailing support available for the more than 300 Bloomington employees who stand to be affected by the planned closure of the GE Appliances plant. The company says demand for the plant’s refrigerators has dropped 76 percent since 2008. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development and WorkOne South Central Indiana have activated the state’s Rapid Response team. GE Appliances says it will offer retraining and severance packages, as well.
GE Appliances, which was acquired earlier this year by Haier, is headquartered in Louisville. The company says the closure is subject to negotiations with IBEW Local 2249, which represents more than 300 of the plants employees. Talks are slated to begin this week. GE Appliances says, if the closure is finalized, more than 90 percent of affected workers would be eligible to receive pension and health care coverage, as well as a benefits package, job placement help and retraining assistance.
Demand for the refrigerators made in the Monroe County facility has fallen as consumer trends are moving toward other styles not produced in Bloomington. Workers at the plant make 20 and 22 cubic-foot side-by-side refrigerators, which GE Appliances says will be phased-out if the shut-down moves forward.
In a statement, Bloomington Production Operations LLC General Manager of Operations Frank Scheffel said:
This proposal in no way is a reflection of the quality of this workforce, which is excellent. The unfortunate reality that we’ve lived with for a very long time is that fewer consumers want to buy the products we make here. The declining demand has meant running this plant only part of the year – only 22 weeks planned this year – without a reduction in our operating costs. That all adds up to BPO being severely inefficient and uncompetitive and results in multi-million-dollar losses each year. This is simply not sustainable. This announcement is very hard to make. This plant has been through a lot of ups and downs over the years, and our employees have always done everything we have asked of them. We have an excellent team. If the business moves forward with a plant closing, our goal will be to use all of the tools and resources available to us to help our employees make a successful transition to retirement or to finding new employment.
The Bloomington Economic Development Corp. and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development are working with GE Appliances on job placement efforts.
Haier acquired GE Appliances from General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) earlier this year for $5.4 billion. The deal came together after a previous $3.3 billion offer from global competitor Electrolux fell through.
The Bloomington plant has been slated to close before. GE eventually reversed course on a 2010 decision to leave the city, announcing plans later to invest $93 million into the operation. In 2013, the company trimmed its work force by 160, most of which came in the form of early retirements.