General Electric is bringing jobs back from Mexico as it is more profitable for them to do so. They have a factory in Louisville, Kentucky that makes water heaters. Soon that factory will also produce refrigerators. Both products are touted as energy efficient.
The CEO of GE is also on the Jobs panel tasked with restructuring our employment prospects. Apparently there will be incentives that GE will garner for bringing these jobs back to this country.
10,000 Applicants
More than 10,000 people applied for the Louisville jobs, which pay $13.03 an hour under a union accord to cut new employees’ wages. That compares with $22 an hour for those hired before 2005.
Along with water heaters that began production last month, the refrigerators are GE’s first new product lines in Louisville in more than 50 years. Both are designed to meet demand for energy-efficient appliances, with the water heaters using less than half the energy consumed by traditional models.
“Our dedication to making great products has to be matched by our dedication to investing in facilities like this one,” Immelt, 56, told an audience that included Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear and 1,200 GE workers.
“These products we design, we have to make in GE factories and we have to have the men and women in this room dedicated to quality, productivity, craftsmanship and pride that has to go into each of these products,” Immelt said.
This is good news not only for 600 workers in Louisville but their families and local merchants as well. The paychecks at $13.00 an hour will quickly be cycled into the local economy.
Perhaps this Jobs Council could bring other jobs back to us as well.