Jeffersonville Workers to Rally for Jobs
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowWorkers at the Tri-Starr/Legacy facility in Jeffersonville will Tuesday hold a rally in an effort to keep their jobs. The local IUE-CWA union says the facility’s incoming operator, Illinois-based Dart Warehouse Corp., plans to fire the nearly 260 workers and give them the opportunity to re-apply for their jobs through a temp agency.
The facility, which ships appliance parts for GE Appliances, is owned by the company’s parent, China-based Haier. The current operator of the facility, Nevada-based Tri-Starr Management Services Inc., announced last week it was ceasing operations at the Jeffersonville location in March.
Haier says it has selected Illinois-based Dart Warehouse Corp. to take over operations at the facility. In a statement late last week to Inside INdiana Business, Dart said it had “obtained a third party to handle hiring decisions for this facility, and provided notice directing interested individuals in hourly non-exempt roles to apply for open opportunities at the local office.”
The union claims Dart plans to fire the employees and force them to re-apply through the third party agency “with no guarantee of wages, benefits, or years of accumulated seniority.”
“This is an absolute outrage for the Chinese Corporation Haier and Dart to treat workers this way,” said Jammie Willen, president of the IUE-CWA Local 84807 and a 20-year veteran of the facility. “These are people’s lives on the line. Many of us have spent our entire career working hard in this facility, and we depend on the wages and health care to support our families. We plan to fight to do everything we can to save our jobs, and we call on Haier and Dart to do the right thing.”
The rally is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. across from the Tri-Starr/Legacy facility. The union says workers, community members, labor leaders and local elected officials are all expected to attend.
Inside INdiana Business has reached out to Dart Warehouse Corp. for comment on the rally and the union’s accusations, but has not yet received a response.