Labor & Employment Law

Whirlpool Exec?s Letter Strengthens Workers? Resolve

By James Parks

All generations understand the message to save American jobs.

Whirlpool executive Paul Coburn’s memo warning Whirlpool workers not to participate in a rally tomorrow to save their jobs has only made the workers more determined than ever to fight the company’s decision to lay off 1,100 workers and send jobs to Mexico when U.S. unemployment is at its highest level in decades.

The reaction to his “open letter,” contained in an internal newsletter, has been quick and strong. It also has put a national spotlight on the practice of many employers to cut costs and raise profits by moving jobs offshore without regard for the communities and workers they leave behind.

Show solidarity with the Whirlpool workers, 900 of whom are members of IUE-CWA Local 808, by signing an online petition urging Whirlpool to reverse its decision and Keep It Made in America: Save Our Jobs. Click here to add your name to the nearly 40,000 who already have signed the petition.

More than 630 people commented on the story about Coburn’s letter on the Huffington Post, many condemning Coburn for trying to stifle dissent and for moving good jobs out of the country. Many cited the $20 million in federal economic recovery money Whirlpool received and the boost in sales from the government’s push for energy-efficient appliances.

Coburn’s action has not intimidated workers but has strengthened their resolve, Whirlpool employee Barbara Reich told Evansville’s Fox 7 News:

I believe this little paper unified the workers. You’re helping us every day you put out this foolishness.

IUE-CWA representative Gary Gardner told WFIE-TV:

We are full on, full court press to reverse this decision. It’s un-American to tell people they can’t assemble or that they shouldn’t assemble or to threaten them should they assemble. If they really cared about whether or not employees were working, then they shouldn’t close this plant. They should keep the people working here.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will join Whirlpool workers at the Evansville plant Feb. 26 to deliver the petitions. The workers then will march from the plant to the IUE-CWA Local 808 union hall for a rally, where Trumka, workers and union and community leaders will speak.

The plant closing will severely hurt the community. On the AFL-CIO’s Good Jobs Now website, Tom Vinnedge, the owner of a restaurant in nearby Winslow, Ind., writes:

More unemployed neighbors mean less customers who can afford to enjoy a meal out, plain and simple. At the same time, the one aspect of my business that is sure to increase as a result of the closure is our Thanksgiving free meal program for needy families. It’s just madness that Whirlpool is abandoning our community like this, and nobody has the courage to stand up to them and other greedy corporations and say it’s got to stop.

In a letter to the Evansville Courier & Press, the Rev. Phil Hoy, a lifelong resident of Evansville, minister and former state legislator, summed the situation up this way:

I am appalled by Whirlpool’s disregard for the community that has done so much for it throughout the years, and by the apathy and disdain that many politicians show toward our nation’s working families.

This community deserves better. On Friday, we will be rallying to hold Whirlpool accountable.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on February 25, 2010 (boomark / email).