Whirlpool Building New Plant in Mexico to Take 900 U.S. Jobs

Will U.S. Climate Action Mean Taxpayers Are Helping to Subsidize Move? 

Evansville, Ind.

Whirlpool is showing its true colors by closing up shop and moving 900 good-paying manufacturing jobs making top-mount refrigerators from southern Indiana to Mexico.

Whirlpool's move to abandon these workers during tough economic times is subsidized by taxpayer dollars as the company's stock and sales are buoyed by consumer rebates and proposed rebates to manufacturers of energy-efficient appliances.

The company needs the money because it is spending more than $110 million to close the Evansville site and build a new plant in Monterrey, Mexico where 1,100 jobs will be created.

Newspaper reports credit a rebound in Whirlpool's stock price late last summer to federal rebates offered to purchasers of energy efficient appliances. Now a second round of rebates that would go directly to manufacturers is being debated in connection with climate change legislation.

"Whirlpool is a bad corporate citizen who is twisting this country's desire to reduce energy usage and using it to export jobs," said IUE-CWA President Jim Clark. "We are pushing hard to ensure that good intentions on going green don't help fund loss of good manufacturing jobs."

The local and the Division also are planning informational protests at retailers such as Lowes and Sears because they sell Whirlpool products.

"Americans are sick of companies turning a blind eye to what is happening out there," said Local 808 President Darrell Collins. "They need to tell Whirlpool to act responsibly."

Though the company announcement on the plant closing cited "excess capacity" as a driver, Whirlpool will be building a new plant to expand its complex about 100 miles from the U.S. border. The refrigerators are primarily for the U.S. market.

Whirlpool sells the refrigerators, which have freezers on the top, under the Amana, Roper, Maytag, Kitchenaid and Kenmore brand names.

The local received no advance notice of the closing announcement, and had no opportunity to try to save the plant. In the past, workers have accepted reduced wages and embraced cost-saving lean manufacturing techniques to save jobs.