LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – About 4,100 rank-and-file workers at Louisville’s GE Appliance Park will get $1,500 bonuses in early December if they ratify the latest proposed labor contract between GE Appliances and their union, IUE-CWA Local 83-761.
The $1,500 cash payments, which would go out Dec. 4, are among the changes union and company officials negotiated in the last few weeks after workers rejected a previous contract proposal by a nearly 9-to-1 margin in September.
The holiday-time bonuses appear to be in lieu of hourly wage increases in 2021, according to WDRB’s analysis of union documents describing the details of the latest and earlier contract proposals.
The latest proposed contract also includes no increases in workers’ health insurance premiums and deductibles for three years, up from two in the earlier deal.
Instead of four-year deal which still called for renegotiating healthcare economics after the second year, the latest proposed contract lasts only for three years.
As in the earlier deal, all workers will get hourly wage increases immediately, with the lowest-tier employees hired since 2017 still getting the biggest increase, $1.50 per hour. The new contract includes bigger increases for more senior workers (ranging from $0.50 to $1.50 per hour) than first proposed.
The current entry-level wage at Appliance Park is $14.50 per hour plus $1 per hour in "appreciation pay" that GE Appliances added in September with no definite end date. The most senior workers earn more than $30 per hour.
GE Appliances, a unit of China-based appliance manufacturer Haier, and the union announced the new tentative deal Monday. It doesn’t go into effect unless ratified by workers in a vote scheduled Thursday.
“This contract helps Appliance Park remain competitive and provides a great pay and benefits package for our employees,” said Rob Fritz, the company’s chief negotiator, in a press release. GE Appliances declined to make an executive available for interview.
IUE-CWA Local 83-761 President Dino Driskell said he wasn’t immediately available for an interview.
“This is a good contract that we worked tirelessly on and have endorsed it for ratification by our members,” Driskell said in a letter to members obtained by WDRB.
