Spokespeople with GE Appliances said they closed GE Appliance Park for a week to implement new safety measures amid COVID-19. But factory workers are now back at work, telling Focus investigative reporter Paula Vasan they still don’t feel safe.
“And it’s being ignored,” said Edward Wallace, a GE Appliance Park factory worker.
Wallace has been a factory worker at GE Appliance Park for eight years, making devices for refrigerators and dishwashers. He said he’s never felt so scared.
“We might be putting the lives of our loved ones in danger,” he said.
It’s why he -- and others who work at GE Appliance Park -- gave us an inside look at everything from restrooms and factory floors to empty dispensers of hand sanitizer. Wallace said conditions are dirty and dusty, with many workers separated by just a shower curtain.
“Put the plexiglass up for all the workers, across from each other right next to each other,” he said.
He’s been wondering whether he should just quit, asking himself: “Are appliances really essential during this pandemic?”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has said they are essential.
A spokesperson with GE Appliances, a unit of China-based Haier, said in a statement “the health of our employees is our priority.” They said they’ve adjusted workspaces to achieve social distancing. Where that’s not possible, they’re using plastic dividers. Workers now must get their temperatures taken when they enter. And there’s a more rigorous cleaning process, the company said.
But 27-year-veteran Kimberly Owen said she’s not convinced to go back to work, saying: “I’m definitely not going to work with 4,000 people.”
March 20 was her last day at the factory, which she called “absolutely terrifying.”
She said she saw her colleagues suffer. “People around you are going home sick with fevers,” Owen said.
Factory workers told us they’re forced to make a painful and difficult choice: weighing the value of their jobs versus their lives. A spokesperson with GE Appliances said they’re complying with state orders and CDC guidelines to protect workers.
“Continuity of the supply chain is essential during this turbulent time, especially as many Kentucky manufacturers work around the clock to increase production or retool and refit their operations to support the ongoing fight against COVID-19,” said Lee Lingo, executive director with the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers (KAM), in a statement. “KAM continues to emphasize that in order to remain open, manufacturing facilities must comply with CDC guidelines to ensure the health and safety of their employees and families and should not continue operating if these guidelines cannot be met.”
