GE Sells Appliance Park Facility

General Electric Co. is selling its Appliance Park operation in Louisville, KY – where some 4,000 IUE-CWA Local 83761 members build GE stoves, dishwashers and other appliances – to Chinese-owned Qingdao Haier Co. for $5.4 billion.

Haier will keep the unit's headquarters in Louisville and also agreed "to continue to market the current portfolio of GE brands for a period of 40 years."

IUE-CWA President Jim Clark said that the IUE-CWA represented plants in Louisville, KY, and repair shops around the country are considered the flagships of GE's appliance enterprise. The interest of many companies in buying this operation "is a direct result of the hard work, dedication, and partnership of our IUE-CWA membership, who build some of the best appliances in the world, both efficiently and expertly."

"We have built very positive relationships with our other non U.S.-owned corporations, and we remain optimistic that we will be able to work closing with Haier to keep our appliance business in Louisville strong and successful," Clark said.

Dana Crittenden, president of IUE-CWA Local 83761, said the deal ends years of uncertainty for workers and will enable the plant to build on its Appliance Park legacy.