LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The roughly 4,100 hourly workers at GE Appliance Park are scheduled to vote next week on a proposed labor contract for the third time in as many months after rejecting offers from GE Appliances in September and in October.
The latest proposed contract offers “front loaded” raises, the union that represents the workforce said in a memo dated Wednesday. It also lasts for four years instead of three.
The majority of the workers – all except production workers hired earlier than 2005 and maintenance workers before 2009 – will get immediate $1.50 hourly raises if the membership approves the contract in the Dec. 7 vote, according to the memo from IUE-CWA Local 83-761.
All workers would get a $1,500 ratification bonus paid Dec. 18.
“The major sticking points we heard on the floor as to why the first two agreements were not ratified were wages and health benefits,” union leaders said in the memo.
The union said the cost of health insurance to workers remain largely the same as in the previous two proposals – a three-year freeze on premiums and deductibles, followed by a 6% increase in the fourth year and a 6% increase in the fifth year, in recognition that the next multi-year deal would be negotiated in late 2024.
Louisville-based GE Appliances, a unit of Chinese appliance manufacturer Haier, said the deal contains "significant improvements in wages and benefits."
