LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- GE Appliances said one of its employees has a “probable, but unconfirmed” case of COVID-19, and it will close one of its Appliance Park buildings for disinfection for 48 hours and the affected work area for two weeks.
The company said the employee has been quarantined and that it is notifying “anyone who works in immediate proximity with the affected employee or who is considered a close work contact” and asking them to self-quarantine at home.
The presumptive case comes at a time that the company has come under fire from its employees for continuing to work despite the workers’ close proximity on the production lines for refrigerators, dishwashers and other appliances.
Dino Driskell, the head of the local union that represents about 3,800 rank-and-file workers at Appliance Park, had told WDRB on Monday that he was “frustrated and dumbfounded” at the company’s decision to keep work going.
Driskell, president of IUE-CWA Local 83-761, said a temporary shutdown would be safer, even it means workers have to file for unemployment benefits and draw on their union-negotiated income assistance.
GE Appliances, one of the Louisville area’s largest employers, said in an emailed statement that Building Three at Appliance Park would be closed for 48 hours to allow a third party to “professionally disinfect the affected areas, with additional focus on high touch surfaces and high traffic areas.
“In addition, we are suspending work in the affected area of the building for 14 days as an added safety measure,” the company said.
In unaffected areas in the building, production will resume with the first shift on Friday, GEA said.
Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
