EVANSVILLE, Ind., June 25 (UPI) -- Fifty-four years of Whirlpool Corp. manufacturing in Evansville, Ind., came to a close Friday, with production moving to Mexico at the cost of 1,100 U.S. jobs.
The company made the announcement in August that it would close the plant. The New York Times reported Saturday the Evansville plant, in operation since 1956, hit its stride in 1973 with nearly 10,000 employees.
"This is all about corporate greed," said Natalie Ford, who worked at the plant, as did her father and her son.
"It's devastating to your family and to everyone in the plant. I wonder where we'll be two years or four years from now. How is this community going to survive?"
Whirlpool spokeswoman Jody Lau said the factory was "uncompetitive from a cost standpoint".
"Aggressive actions by global competitors forces the business to consolidate production in a facility where we can deliver the product at the best cost," she said.
