"Shame on Whirlpool" Union Fights to Keep 1,100 Jobs in the U.S.

The “Shame on Whirlpool” campaign is going strong, with CWA, IUE-CWA and AFL-CIO activists pressing the company not to close its Evansville, Ind., refrigerator plant and move those jobs to Mexico.

Union leaders have been reaching out to state and local elected officials to find ways to keep the plant on site.

About 5,500 union members and supporters rallied in Evansville to fight for their jobs and community. IUE-CWA President Jim Clark said “Whirlpool’s decision to shut down and move our work to Mexico is greed-driven and an atrocity. We know companies need to make money, but moving jobs out of the country during this economic crisis is shameful,” he said.

CWA District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen said that it’s time that corporations in the United States take some responsibility for helping to reverse around the economic downturn. “It’s time for our government at all levels to hold corporations accountable for their behavior, especially when they have received millions in taxpayer dollars.”

AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka, community leaders and activists and supporters across the region also joined the rally. A group of about 40 demonstrators, including Clark and Rosen, delivered petitions to the front door of the factory, calling on Whirlpool to keep the plant open.

Apparently, Whirlpool is trying to keep the shutdown a secret, because Paul Coburn, division vice president for Whirlpool's Evansville Division, told workers not to participate in the march and rally, warning them that “these negative activities will only hamper employees when they look for future jobs.”

Whirlpool’s threat was reported in the Huffington Post and other media, and IUE-CWA filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board over the company’s interference with workers’ rights.

The plant is slated to close this year so that Whirlpool can spend $110 million to build a new facility in Mexico, and refrigerators manufactured at this plant mainly will be sold in the U.S. market. If the plant closes, about 900 members of IUE-CWA Local 84808 and 200 managers will lose their jobs. Whirlpool currently is Evansville’s seventh largest employer.

IUE-CWA is keeping a bright spotlight on Whirlpool, putting up billboards with the “shame” message and leafleting local stores that buy Whirlpool products, including Lowes and Sears.

Whirlpool’s decision to abandon these workers and Evansville during such tough economic times is being partly subsidized by taxpayers, because Whirlpool continues to remain eligible for some of the $300 million in taxpayer dollars available to companies that produce energy efficient appliances.

“Whirlpool is a bad corporate citizen who is twisting this country’s desire to reduce energy usage and using it to export jobs,” said Clark. “We are pushing to ensure that good intentions on going green don’t help fund loss of good manufacturing jobs.”

Local 84808 President Darrell Collins said, “Americans are sick of companies turning a blind eye to what is happening out there. They need to tell Whirlpool to act responsibly. We’ve got 1,100 people who are going to be out of a job.”

Bill Robertson, a member of Local 84808 and a 16-year Whirlpool veteran said our country must stop exporting U.S. jobs. “We’re not the first ones to go over and we won’t be the last if we don’t do something about it now and overturn unfair trade agreements.”

A petition campaign by IUE-CWA asks activists to send a message to Whirlpool CEO Jeff Fettig that calls on Whirlpool to “be a good corporate citizen and keep the Evansville plant open.” Go to www.unionvoice. org/campaign/whirlpool to send the petition.

Photo Caption: Some 5,500 union members and supporters rallied in Evansville, Ind., to protest Whirlpool’s plans to close the plant and move 1,100 jobs to Mexico.