LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – A bigger than life figure in the history of Louisville’s GE Appliance Park died on July 6, 8 days before his 86th birthday.
I wanted to take a moment to remember Norm Mitchell. I covered all of his 9 years as the GE union leader.
You would think a 44-year employee would be stuck in his ways. Not Norm. He was the architect of a major turnaround and he celebrated a major victory in 1993.
The company had decided to keep the longtime washing machine production line in Louisville, instead of moving it elsewhere. Mitchell told the crowd, “The black cloud over Appliance Park has been lifted!”
But here’s what I found fascinating. GE’s hard-charging CEO Jack Welch was no one to mess with. His nickname was “Neutron Jack”, he was firing people and closing money-losing aspects across GE. In Louisville, he met his match in Mitchell, who towered above Welch and nearly everyone else. But Mitchell also knew Welch meant business.
So he urged IUE 761 members to change and give up contract concessions, in order to keep the washing machine line, jobs and get the company to reinvest. Not everyone loved him for it. But it worked and no one admired him more than Jack Welch.
I interviewed Welch, one-on-one, for 10 years. He would always make a point to tell me several times, on camera, that Mitchell flat out saved the line and the company trusted him so much, they put money back into Appliance Park.
Welch knew Mitchell had stuck out his neck for the company, and he never forgot it. He made sure he didn’t leave the union leader hanging out to dry with false promises from the top.
VISITATION for Norm Mitchell is Tuesday, July 10, 2018, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Ratterman & Sons, 3800 Bardstown Road Louisville, Kentucky.
The funeral will also be held at Ratterman on Wednesday, July 11 at noon.
Memorial gifts may be made to Parkland Baptist Church.