IUE-CWA Fights to Save 1,100 Whirlpool Jobs in Indiana

IUE-CWA members are ramping up their "Shame on Whirlpool" campaign, urging the company not to carry out plans to close its Evansville, Ind., refrigerator plant and move their jobs to Mexico.

The plant is scheduled to close this year, putting 900 IUE-CWA members plus 200 salaried employees out of work and harming the community. Whirlpool is spending $110 million to build a new facility in Mexico.

"Whirlpool's decision to shut down and move our work to Mexico is greed-driven and an atrocity," said IUE-CWA President James Clark. "We know companies need to make money, but moving jobs out of the country during this economic crisis is shameful," he said.

Whirlpool will remain eligible for some of the $300 million in taxpayer dollars available to companies that produce energy efficient appliances.

IUE-CWA is keeping a spotlight on Whirlpool, putting up billboards with the "shame" message, and leafleting local stores that buy Whirlpool products, including Lowes and Sears and planning other community events.

CWA contacted Indiana Senator Evan Bayh's office to ask what steps the senator was taking to keep the Whirlpool jobs in the United States, but his office failed to respond by the time this issue went to press.

In an earlier letter to Bayh, Clark also expressed disappointment "at the lack of response" from Bayh's office on efforts to save the jobs.

Click here to send a message calling on Whirlpool to keep quality jobs in the United States to Whirlpool's CEO and Indiana's U.S. Senators Evan Bayh and Richard Luger.  

Photo Caption: IUE-CWA is fighting to save 1,100 jobs at a Whirlpool plant in Indiana. The company wants to move that work to Mexico.