In Louisville, 5,200 GE equipment workers are preparing for battle

Hundreds of workers who make dishwashers, refrigerators, washers and dryers and other home appliances at GE Appliances in Louisville, Kentucky, gathered Sept. 14 ahead of contract negotiations. Their contract, which covers 5,200 workers, expires at the end of the year.

This factory complex, known as Appliance Park, is the only one of nine GE Appliances manufacturing sites across the country that is unionized and is its global headquarters. The union is part of the Industrial Division of the Communications Workers; Negotiations begin on October 14th. Although Kentucky is a “right to work” state, union membership at the plant is over 90 percent.

GE Appliances workers are demanding higher wages, cost-of-living adjustments, more paid vacation, and lower health care costs and no deductibles. They also want to abolish the five-tier wage system.

The starting wage at Appliance Park is around $17.51 ​​- while many companies in the city now offer $18 or more, according to workers. Those in the lowest tier, Flex, will receive no raise for the first two years, other than a cost-of-living adjustment of no more than 1 percent.

The average wage at the company is just $18.50, Dino Driskell, president of IUE-CWA Local 761, told rally participants: “We are behind every other large company in this area.” It's time to change. It has to change.”

A union survey found 98 percent of IUE-CWA members were willing to strike – and the union is urging members to save up for a fight.

“You have to be prepared,” Driskell told members at the rally. “So save every penny, nickel, cent, whatever you can and put it in a jar.”

FIVE LEVELS, LOTS OF GIVEBACKS

General Electric sold GE Appliances in 2016 to Haier, a Chinese home appliance maker considered the largest in the world. Haier also owns major brands in Europe and Asia.

This plant has been unionized since the 1950s. But in 2017, in their first negotiations with Haier-owned GEA, workers lost many contractual rights, including overtime after eight hours (now they are paid after 40 hours a week) and guaranteed double pay on Sundays. The healthcare package deteriorated with rising premiums and higher deductibles. And two more levels were added, making it a five-tier workforce.

Before Haier's takeover, GEA was in poor financial shape, especially after the outbreak of the global financial crisis. Wages at Appliance Park were frozen from 2008 to 2010 and again in 2016 and 2017.

But under its new owners, GEA has doubled its revenue since 2017, created 4,000 manufacturing jobs in the U.S. and restructured its supply chain to increase inventory turns, the company said Wall Street Journal. Last year, the company's share of the home appliance market continued to grow, reaching sales of $11.3 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent. The company boasts that its devices are in half of all U.S. homes.

BLACKOUT GEA

Employees say GEA does not live up to the title of “Best Employer”. Assets Magazine in 2022 and 2023.

According to a union survey, 60 percent of members have to work a second job, 77 percent can't afford to buy a house and 30 percent don't get health insurance because it's too expensive.

Low wages, mandatory overtime and no sick leave have led to extremely high turnover rates. According to the union, the company hired 6,000 new production employees in 2022, while there were only around 5,500 jobs in production. Driskell said 2,100 workers at Appliance Park have less than two years of service.

Some workers say managers are favorites, that workers who speak out about problems face retaliation, that attendance points are unevenly distributed and that part-time and immigrant workers, mostly from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, are treated the worst .

“It’s not just about wages and benefits,” said Pam Taylor, who sits on the negotiating committee. “The way this company treats its employees and their policies is a large part of the reason people are so ready” for a strike.

Before the rally, the union carried out a “Blackout GEA” action. Workers wore black shirts to show that GEA would become black without the workers. According to the organizing committee, more than 90 percent joined the campaign.

“We take care of each other”

High inflation is one reason workers are determined to fight for a better deal. “Most people at GEA don’t even make enough money to rent a one-room apartment in the city anymore,” said Oliver Smith, a member of the union organizing committee.

In the last round of negotiations in 2020, workers rejected the first two tentative agreements before finally ratifying the contract.

GEA workers have been encouraged by recent contract expansions at other companies in the city – including Ford auto workers, who took part in last year's stand-up strike, and UPS Teamsters, which issued a strong strike threat. UPS has its largest hub in Louisville.

Representatives from these and other unions came to the rally to support them.

“There is corporate greed all around you,” Todd Dunn, president of Auto Workers Local 862, told the crowd. “For I don’t know how many years it was strong in the GEA building. They stole from you, stole from you… We will be here for you.”

“We will do everything we can to get people through this strike,” Bill Miller, political director of Teamsters Local 89, told rally participants. “We take care of each other. If you fight with one, you fight with all of us, and we fight back.”

Elaine Hui is a professor of labor and employment relations and Asian studies at Penn State University. She is also the director of the master's program in labor and global workers' rights, which is part of the Global Labor University network.