Latest news with #GEAppliances
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
US workers say Trump's immigration crackdown is causing labor shortages: ‘A strain on everybody'
Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration is piling pressure on US factories, according to employees and union leaders, as veteran workers from overseas are forced to leave their jobs. As economists warn the administration's full-scale deportation ambitions could ultimately cost millions of jobs, workers at two sites – in Michigan and Kentucky – told the Guardian that industrial giants are grappling with labor shortages. The US president has moved to strip more than a million immigrants of their legal status in the US, including by shutting down the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans (CHNV) Parole Program, which allowed hundreds of thousands to work legally in the country. It has meanwhile ramped up immigration arrest operations with prospective daily quotas of 3,000 arrests per day. Such moves have piled pressure on industries across the US economy – including the food, hospitality, construction, transportation and care sectors – which rely on large numbers of migrants to do essential work. At a GE Appliances plant in Louisville, Kentucky, more than 125 workers were abruptly forced out of their jobs in the spring due to programs cancelled as part of Trump's immigration crackdown, according to an employee. GE Appliances makes home appliances including refrigerators, microwaves and dishwashers. 'In three different buildings, on a couple of different shifts, stewards reported that they lost production so they weren't able to make all the products they were supposed to make,' said Jess Reese, a replacement operator at the plant and organizer for IUE-CWA Local 83761. 'It was hard to cover certain job tasks on the assembly line, and so that created chaos, and it was just hard to get things done.' Reese expressed concern about the threat of more workers being forced out. Trump's efforts to revoke protected status could impact an additional 200 union members next February, she said. 'Hundreds of workers kind of disappearing at the drop of a hat is no joke, as we've seen with the last wave of mass terminations.' A spokesperson for GE Appliances said: 'We added additional staffing where needed and continue to follow the law.' At a Kraft-Heinz plant in Holland, Michigan, meanwhile, workers are said to have been mandated to work overtime. The firm is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world, behind brands including Philadelphia cream cheese and Jell-O deserts. 'We had people there for 20 years, and all of a sudden they get notification their immigration authorization is revoked,' Tomas Torres, a maintenance mechanic of 13 years, and president of RWDSU Local 705. 'And they can't be there anymore, and that just puts a strain on everybody,. 'The lack of people on the lines. There are employees running two machines; it should be one person per machine. Manager and supervisors are all stressed out, and cancelling vacations for people because they don't have enough to run the machines.' Torres has been working 12- to 14-hour days, he said: part of a first shift, all of a second shift, and part of a third shift. 'I'm tired. And you catch people falling asleep on the line, and it's a big safety issue,' he added. 'All of this that has happened has affected everybody at the plant. It's crazy, because I hear people complain every single day.' Kraft Heinz refuted the plant is experiencing labor shortages due to immigration policy changes, but did not say how many workers were lost at the plant due to the changes. 'Kraft Heinz has strict work authorization verification processes that comply with all applicable laws and regulations,' said the firm in a statement. 'Overtime is driven by the needs of the business, and we are currently in one of our busiest seasons of the year.' As Trump's officials press ahead, economists have warned that deporting millions of immigrants from the US could have drastic consequences. The Economic Policy Institute estimated this month that 4 million deportations would result in the loss of 3.3 million jobs held by immigrants in the US and 2.6 million US-born employees, hitting industries including construction and childcare. The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative thinktank, meanwhile found that Trump's immigration policies would likely lead to a negative net migration into the US for the first time in decades and result in a decrease in US gross domestic product of between 0.3% and 0.4%, or $70.5bn to $94bn in economic output, annually. 'One day they are there,' said Maria Jose Padmore, a human services assistant for Fairfax County in Virginia. 'And the next day, I'm looking for my coworker, and he's gone because their Temporary Protected Status expired. 'Forget about the fact that I now have to share my coworkers' job. Let's think about my coworkers' family: how are they going to put food on their table?' Padmore was speaking at a panel on how Trump's immigration polices are affecting workers, organized by the AFL-CIO in Washington DC this month. Gwen Mills, President of Unite Here, the largest hospitality union in the US, said they were 'wreaking havoc across the families of our coworkers and in our communities'. 'Oftentimes within the labor movement, we find ourselves divided by industries,' said Jimmy Williams, president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, which represents construction workers. 'When it comes to immigration, it's gotta be the one single thing that puts a thread between a hotel worker, a construction worker, a service worker, a public employee, a teacher. This is something that affects every single working person in this country.' The Trump administration alleges that CHNV and other temporary protected status programs were abused, a claim challenged by groups such as Refugees International. 'There is no shortage of American minds and hands to grow our labor force, and President Trump's agenda to create jobs for American workers represents this Administration's commitment to capitalizing on that untapped potential while delivering on our mandate to enforce our immigration laws,' said Abigail Jackson, White House spokesperson. But its policies are already causing apprehension on the factory floor. 'This has a real impact on immigrant workers, obviously, but it also has a real impact on non immigrant workers,' Reese, at the GE Appliances plant in Louisville, said. 'It's really important that we stick together, because we all want the same things. 'We want safe workplaces. We want good wages. We all want to go home to our family in one piece. We want to live in a safe place. We want to be free. These are things we all share, and we're only going to get that stuff if we stick together.'
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
US workers say Trump's immigration crackdown is causing labor shortages: ‘A strain on everybody'
Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration is piling pressure on US factories, according to employees and union leaders, as veteran workers from overseas are forced to leave their jobs. As economists warn the administration's full-scale deportation ambitions could ultimately cost millions of jobs, workers at two sites – in Michigan and Kentucky – told the Guardian that industrial giants are grappling with labor shortages. The US president has moved to strip more than a million immigrants of their legal status in the US, including by shutting down the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans (CHNV) Parole Program, which allowed hundreds of thousands to work legally in the country. It has meanwhile ramped up immigration arrest operations with prospective daily quotas of 3,000 arrests per day. Such moves have piled pressure on industries across the US economy – including the food, hospitality, construction, transportation and care sectors – which rely on large numbers of migrants to do essential work. At a GE Appliances plant in Louisville, Kentucky, more than 125 workers were abruptly forced out of their jobs in the spring due to programs cancelled as part of Trump's immigration crackdown, according to an employee. GE Appliances makes home appliances including refrigerators, microwaves and dishwashers. 'In three different buildings, on a couple of different shifts, stewards reported that they lost production so they weren't able to make all the products they were supposed to make,' said Jess Reese, a replacement operator at the plant and organizer for IUE-CWA Local 83761. 'It was hard to cover certain job tasks on the assembly line, and so that created chaos, and it was just hard to get things done.' Reese expressed concern about the threat of more workers being forced out. Trump's efforts to revoke protected status for Haiti could impact an additional 200 union members next February, she said. 'Hundreds of workers kind of disappearing at the drop of a hat is no joke, as we've seen with the last wave of mass terminations.' A spokesperson for GE Appliances said: 'We added additional staffing where needed and continue to follow the law.' At a Kraft-Heinz plant in Holland, Michigan, meanwhile, workers are said to have been mandated to work overtime. The firm is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world, behind brands including Philadelphia cream cheese and Jell-O deserts. 'We had people there for 20 years, and all of a sudden they get notification their immigration authorization is revoked,' Tomas Torres, a maintenance mechanic of 13 years, and president of RWDSU Local 705. 'And they can't be there anymore, and that just puts a strain on everybody,. 'The lack of people on the lines. There are employees running two machines; it should be one person per machine. Manager and supervisors are all stressed out, and cancelling vacations for people because they don't have enough to run the machines.' Torres has been working 12- to 14-hour days, he said: part of a first shift, all of a second shift, and part of a third shift. 'I'm tired. And you catch people falling asleep on the line, and it's a big safety issue,' he added. 'All of this that has happened has affected everybody at the plant. It's crazy, because I hear people complain every single day.' Kraft Heinz refuted the plant is experiencing labor shortages due to immigration policy changes, but did not say how many workers were lost at the plant due to the changes. 'Kraft Heinz has strict work authorization verification processes that comply with all applicable laws and regulations,' said the firm in a statement. 'Overtime is driven by the needs of the business, and we are currently in one of our busiest seasons of the year.' As Trump's officials press ahead, economists have warned that deporting millions of immigrants from the US could have drastic consequences. The Economic Policy Institute estimated this month that 4 million deportations would result in the loss of 3.3 million jobs held by immigrants in the US and 2.6 million US-born employees, hitting industries including construction and childcare. The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative thinktank, meanwhile found that Trump's immigration policies would likely lead to a negative net migration into the US for the first time in decades and result in a decrease in US gross domestic product of between 0.3% and 0.4%, or $70.5bn to $94bn in economic output, annually. 'One day they are there,' said Maria Jose Padmore, a human services assistant for Fairfax County in Virginia. 'And the next day, I'm looking for my coworker, and he's gone because their Temporary Protected Status expired. 'Forget about the fact that I now have to share my coworkers' job. Let's think about my coworkers' family: how are they going to put food on their table?' Padmore was speaking at a panel on how Trump's immigration polices are affecting workers, organized by the AFL-CIO in Washington DC this month. Gwen Mills, President of Unite Here, the largest hospitality union in the US, said they were 'wreaking havoc across the families of our coworkers and in our communities'. 'Oftentimes within the labor movement, we find ourselves divided by industries,' said Jimmy Williams, president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, which represents construction workers. 'When it comes to immigration, it's gotta be the one single thing that puts a thread between a hotel worker, a construction worker, a service worker, a public employee, a teacher. This is something that affects every single working person in this country.' The Trump administration alleges that CHNV and other temporary protected status programs were abused, a claim challenged by groups such as Refugees International. 'There is no shortage of American minds and hands to grow our labor force, and President Trump's agenda to create jobs for American workers represents this Administration's commitment to capitalizing on that untapped potential while delivering on our mandate to enforce our immigration laws,' said Abigail Jackson, White House spokesperson. But its policies are already causing apprehension on the factory floor. 'This has a real impact on immigrant workers, obviously, but it also has a real impact on non immigrant workers,' Reese, at the GE Appliances plant in Louisville, said. 'It's really important that we stick together, because we all want the same things. 'We want safe workplaces. We want good wages. We all want to go home to our family in one piece. We want to live in a safe place. We want to be free. These are things we all share, and we're only going to get that stuff if we stick together.'
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why GE Appliances says it's ready to bring 800 jobs back to the U.S.
GE Appliances is accelerating a plan to move production of its washers and dryers from China to the U.S. in order to avoid having to pay President Trump's tariffs. The company, which has long planned to reshore manufacturing to the U.S., said that high levies on imports from Beijing under Mr. Trump have impelled the household appliance maker to "accelerate the decision-making," Lee Lagomarcino, GE Appliances' vice president of clothes care, told CBS MoneyWatch. "Any time we decide to move a factory or redesign a platform, it's an expensive endeavor, so we have to think through the strategy and trajectory of market," Lagomarcino said. "This was the right time to strike on the business opportunity given the environment with tariffs," he added. GE Appliances on Thursday announced it would invest $490 million in a laundry care manufacturing plant in Kentucky, through which the company would create 800 new American jobs. In a statement last week, GE Appliances President and CEO Kevin Nolan said the reshoring effort "aligns with the current economic and policy environment." Once the plant is fully up and running, the company, a Haier subsidiary, will cease manufacturing in China. "That factory will turn off when the factory in Louisville, Kentucky turns on," said Lagomarcino, adding that he expects the Kentucky plant to be operational by early 2027. What jobs is GE creating in the U.S.? The company is looking to fill research and development, engineering and supply chain positions at the Kentucky plant, openings for which it's already started posting on its careers site. "We anticipate a lot of hiring for some skilled trades, and technically advanced manufacturing roles," Lagomarcino said. "Our research and development team leader will need to hire more engineers, and our supply chain leader will have to hire to fill jobs." Why now? The investment in domestic manufacturing comes as a host of U.S. companies announce plans to reshore operations as they face added costs from Mr. Trump's tariff agenda. But the main force behind the production move to Louisville is GE's "zero distance" philosophy of building appliances where they are sold, the company said in the announcement. "U.S. manufacturing allows us to be closer to the consumer and the team that designs and markets the products and is involved in the whole product development lifecycle," said Lagormarcino. "Philosophically, and from a manufacturing and design standpoint, it makes sense." That said, the move makes even more sense with tariff increases in place, according to Lagormarcino. "With tariffs or without tariffs, we think it's a good long-term strategy. But when you add tariffs, they introduce costs to the situation, and it does accelerate those actions," he said. Saving money vs. saving lives Sen. Elissa Slotkin on Trump budget bill specifics Senate puts taxes on solar and wind energy projects in Trump budget bill Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
CBS News
30-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
GE is reshoring 800 jobs to the U.S. Here's why, according to the company.
GE Appliances is accelerating a plan to move production of its washers and dryers from China to the U.S. in order to avoid having to pay President Trump's tariffs, the company announced on Thursday. In a statement last week, GE Appliances President and CEO Kevin Nolan said the reshoring effort "aligns with the current economic and policy environment." The company, which has long planned to reshore manufacturing to the U.S., said that high levies on imports from Beijing under Mr. Trump have impelled the household appliance maker to "accelerate the decision-making," Lee Lagomarcino, GE Appliances' vice president of clothes care told CBS MoneyWatch. "Any time we decide to move a factory, or redesign a platform, it's an expensive endeavor, so we have to think through the strategy and trajectory of market," Lagomarcino said. "This was the right time to strike on the business opportunity given the environment with tariffs," he added. GE Appliances on Thursday announced it would invest $490 million in a laundry care manufacturing plant in Kentucky, through which the company would create 800 new American jobs. Once the plant is fully up and running, the company, a Haier subsidiary, will cease manufacturing in China. "That factory will turn off when the factory in Louisville, Kentucky turns on," said Lagomarcino, adding that he expects the Kentucky plant to be operational by early 2027. What jobs is GE creating in the U.S.? The company is looking to fill research and development, engineering and supply chain positions at the Kentucky plant, openings for which it's already started posting on its careers site. "We anticipate a lot of hiring for some skilled trades, and technically advanced manufacturing roles," Lagomarcino said. "Our research and development team leader will need to hire more engineers, and our supply chain leader will have to hire to fill jobs." Why now? The investment in domestic manufacturing comes as a host of U.S. companies announce plans to reshore operations as they face added costs from Mr. Trump's tariff agenda. But the main force behind the production move to Louisville is GE's "zero distance" philosophy of building appliances where they are sold, the company said in the announcement. "U.S. manufacturing allows us to be closer to the consumer and the team that designs and markets the products and is involved in the whole product development lifecycle," said Lagormarcino. "Philosophically, and from a manufacturing and design standpoint, it makes sense." That said, the move makes even more sense with tariff increases in place, according to Lagormarcino. "With tariffs or without tariffs, we think it's a good long-term strategy. But when you add tariffs, they introduce costs to the situation, and it does accelerate those actions," he said.
CNN
27-06-2025
- Business
- CNN
Why GE Appliances will make more washing machines in Kentucky instead of China. It's not what you think
Source: CNN Some of President Donald Trump's steepest tariffs are on products like washing machines, and on Thursday, GE Appliances said it would spend a half a billion dollars to make even more of them in the United States. Tariffs, however, weren't the driving factor behind the decision, the company's CEO says, but they did serve as an accelerant. GE Appliances announced it would spend $490 million to move some washing machine production from China and build a high-tech clothes care operation at its massive industrial park and headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, where it already churns out washers and dryers for the US market. The move of more than a dozen front-load washer models comes as US trade policy uncertainty has reached a high-stakes fever pitch as Trump's July 9 tariffs deadline approaches. GE Appliances move that is expected to be complete in 2027 and add 800 jobs, has been in the works for six years — shortly after a new line of front-load washers launched in 2019 — and follows a several-year stretch of high-dollar investments made to bolster the company's US manufacturing footprint, CEO Kevin Nolan told CNN. 'We've had a strategy that making appliances in America makes sense; it's an economic thing, and it's also how we can serve our customers in a better, more efficient way,' Nolan said, adding that GE appliances is 'not a company that was saying, 'Hey, we're going to outsource everything, and oh my God, now we've got to bring it back.'' '[The trade policy] makes the payback for these things much, much greater,' Nolan added. 'And with that, of course it's going to accelerate (plans), because the quicker we can do these things, the quicker we can realize those benefits.' The emergence and threat of tariffs also are influencing future decisions, Nolan said, noting that plans to reshore other components and parts are moving up the pecking order. Earlier this week, an expansion of Trump's 50% tariffs on steel extended to 'derivative products,' including consumer appliances such as dryers, washing machines, refrigerators, ovens and garbage disposals. The US currently has a minimum 30% tariff on Chinese exports; however, it has soared as high as 145% in recent months. 'The current trade policy is the most dynamic thing anyone's ever seen in their business career; I mean, it can change in a day, it can change in a week, it can change in a month,' Nolan said. 'These investments are strategic, and you've got to look at the long term and what makes sense. You can't do these just for trade policies.' The move follows similar reshoring efforts made by GE Appliances in recent years, Nolan said. The company, which has been a subsidiary of China-based Haier Group since 2016, has invested $3.5 billion in its US manufacturing facilities during the past decade, he said. Still, in recent months, the dramatic shifts in US trade policy and the Trump administration's tumultuous tariff rates have loomed large over manufacturers like GE Appliances and its parent company's appliance-making affiliate Haier Smart Home. Earlier this month, Haier Smart Home executives told investors that the company's localized supply chain in North America could help reduce its tariff exposure, according to translated company filings from June 4. Haier also flagged opportunities in 'tariff-driven competitor weakness,' according to the filing. In 2019, GE Appliances wanted to move quickly to market after developing what it believed was an innovation in the clothes care space: Making a less stinky front-load washer. 'To get this washer out fast, we said we're going to tackle building the dryer plant (in Louisville) to make those and we'll share the load and have the washer made in China,' he said. 'We always had a forward-looking view that this thing was going to come back to America, but to get the things in the market quick, we did it that way in China first.' The high-tariff environment 'definitely made the numbers on this look very good; so, we said, 'OK, let's pull this thing in; let's get this thing done now,' because it just makes sense. The engineering work's been going on; there's a reason we can move fast on this,' he said. 'But these tariffs could go away tomorrow, and once we make these decisions, we don't back off. So that's where you've got to make sure it's the right thing to do.' The half-a-billion-dollar investment announced Thursday will bring over more than 15 models of front-load washing machines, including a washer-dryer combo, to the 750-acre, multi-plant Appliance Park, where the company already manufactures top-load washers and clothes dryers. The latest addition — which is expected to heavily feature automation, including robotics, automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots — is expected to bring the company's clothes care production at the site to 33 football fields in size. Still, when it's complete in 2027, the new production lines are expected to result in the addition of 800 full-time jobs to the 8,000-person campus. 'It'll definitely be our flagship plant from a technology standpoint, so a lot of opportunities for upskilling employees,' Nolan said, referring to efforts for employees to learn new skills. 'In order to be able to successfully manufacture in the United States, we have to be efficient.' In recent years GE Appliances has touted a 'zero distance' strategy to be closer to customers from a physical and design standpoint. To that end, the company's 11 US plants include maker spaces and microfactories aimed at innovation and small-batch production. The approach is a far cry from that taken in the 1980s and 1990s, when then-General Electric CEO Jack Welch leaned heavily into outsourcing and offshoring. GE Appliances declined to share specifics as to what percentage of its manufacturing is now domestic versus overseas; however, the intent is to continue the reshoring efforts and expanding US manufacturing operations, Nolan said. Trump, like presidents Obama and Biden before (and after) him, has long stated a desire to revive the US manufacturing industry and sought to wield tariffs to make that happen. However, economists and supply chain efforts have questioned the effectiveness in broad-based tariffs to that approach. Several companies in recent months have announced plans to make investments in US manufacturing in recent months — with the White House taking credit — however, not only were these decisions already longer term in nature, any kind of large-scale rebound in domestic manufacturing will take time, said Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University. 'Right now, given all the profound uncertainty about tariffs, folks are not going to take action until some clarity emerges,' he said. Companies that are able to announce or make moves now, he added, likely have existing capacity currently in place. To build a factory from scratch not only would take many months, if not many years, and then companies would run up against another challenge: finding enough skilled workers, he said. About 22% of US plants have cited a lack of labor or labor skills as a key reason for their facilities running below full capacity, Miller said, citing his analysis of recent Census Bureau data. GE Appliances has a waitlist of folks for jobs at its plants, but there's still a huge need for a stronger pipeline of skilled workers, Nolan said. 'That's just a national shortage,' he said. 'When you look at us versus other countries, how many engineers are graduated, we're way underrepresented. And then when you look at out of those engineers who are skilled in the art of manufacturing, it's even worse. That's the thing as a nation we've got to really grapple with.' See Full Web Article
