G.E. to close Bloomington plant in 2009, eliminating 900 jobs

General Electric said Thursday it plans to close its Bloomington refrigeration plant by the fourth quarter of 2009 due to losses of about $45 million last year and an expectation of similar losses this year.\nGE “can no longer effectively compete” because of declining sales of side-by-side refrigerators and rising costs of materials and labor, plant manager Kent Suiters said in a news release.\nThe plant employs about 900 people, who were notified Thursday. GE said about 60 percent of the employees would retire with retirement and pension benefits.\n“This announcement is particularly difficult because our employees have done everything we have asked of them,” Suiters said in the release. “The hard fact is that even with investment and great effort by our employees, the plant has continued to lose money. It does not make good business sense to continue down this path.”\nThe 837 hourly employees are represented by IBEW Local 2249, which may request a 60-day bargaining period in which alternatives to the closing may be presented, according to the release.\nLocal President Bill Mitchell said he plans to open negotiations to try to save the plant, but acknowledged the union would have to be “very creative” to come up with a solution.\n“We’ll give it our best shot,” he said.