Factory workers protest layoffs

Shelli Hoskins had hoped her 20-year-old daughter would be able to work at General Electric like she has for the past 25 years, but now Hoskins faces the prospect of losing her own job.

About 40 General Electric employees and friends marched along Curry Pike Thursday in neon green shirts to protest the 160 layoffs happening at the Bloomington plant.

Carven Thomas, president and business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2249, said the rally was organized by the rank and file members of the union to encourage GE to give more retirement options to its employees to reduce the number of layoffs.

“These folks are here to show the support of what they think is fair,” Thomas said.
Protesters held signs saying “GE lies” and “no to corporate greed.” Many cars honked in support as they drove by, some driving by more than once.

GE employee Travis Sims said the company has broken too many promises.

“We have enough people in there that could retire, but they won’t let them,” he said.
Sims isn’t currently being laid off, but he said he participated in the rally to support his fellow workers.

“We wanna save our jobs,” he said. “It ain’t like we don’t appreciate them. If you don’t stand up for yourself, who will?”

Jyma Hale has been working at GE for 34 years. Although she is not being laid off, she said she can’t move up to a better job if the company doesn’t let others retire. She said the company lied to its employees.

“They went around asking people to retire, and then they changed their minds on us,” she said.

Kevin Hardwick, an employee of GE for 27 years, said there are 160 people who have been at GE for 25 years or more who are going to be laid off.

“They told us not to say anything bad about Dirk Bowman or Chip Blankenship because they’re sensitive, and I can’t think of anything more sensitive than losing your job,” he said.

Linda Hinkle, who is currently caught up in the layoffs, said she wanted to show GE she “won’t take this lying down.” She said she hopes the company will allow higher seniors to retire, so she and lower seniors can keep their jobs.

“It’s time for the corporations to listen to the people and not the dollar,” she said. “We helped make this place what it is, and they should treat us with more respect.”

Hoskins started working at GE 25 years ago to the day Thursday. This is the second time she has been affected by layoffs. She was without a job for nine months in 2009.

During the previous layoffs, the employees voted to take a pay freeze and
implement a two-tier pay scale for new hires. Hoskins said this was a part of an agreement to bring back the employees who were laid off and invest in building new products.

Hoskins said the new product lines were never implemented and that’s why they are being laid off again.

Hoskins said if she does get laid off, she doesn’t know what she will do. She said she might transfer to another factory.

“I hope the company sees what a value we are for them because we’ve jumped through hoops for years to make this work,” she said.

Follow reporter Sydney Murray on Twitter @sydlm13.