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More Than 20,000 Tell Philips to ‘Keep the Lights On’

April 12, 2011

New Philips’ CEO Frans van Houten got a big welcoming present this week.

More than 20,000 supporters of good jobs signed on to an online petition telling the Netherlands-based multinational to keep the award-winning Philips Luminaires lighting fixture plant in Sparta, Tenn., open.  All the names were mailed to van Houten at his new office in Amsterdam this week.

Says Bo McCurry, Sparta Local 2143 president, a 23-year veteran of the plant:

The support we’ve received – both around the country and around the world – has been amazing. Perhaps previous CEO Gerard Kleisterlee thought no one would care about another plant shutdown or more good jobs being outsourced to Mexico.  Well, now CEO van Houten knows that Philips can’t get away with killing our jobs without anyone standing up and saying ‘no!’

Philips’ Director for Human Resources for North American Operations Rick Adams told workers at the 40-year-old plant last November that it was moving most of the work to Mexico, killing 275 good jobs and devastating the local community.  

Already the first press has left the factory floor.

The Sparta plant has won numerous awards for excellence, being named one of North America’s 10 best plants in 2009 by Industry Week magazine, and even winning Philips’ own “lean” manufacturing” cup.

Says Tenth District International Representative Brent Hall:

Philips still hasn’t given us a reason why they are shutting it down. Before being bought out by Philips in 2007, plant management would routinely sit down with employees to make needed changes to keep the factory going and the workers never once refused to do whatever it took to increase efficiency and productivity. But Rick Adams did not even bother to consult with anyone in the plant before presenting the shutdown as a done deal. He just gave us the news and left through the back door.

From Turkey to France, Philips has received global criticism from labor and community leaders around the world for stifling the voices of its employees when it comes to outsourcing and layoffs.

The European Metalworkers’ Federation has documented several cases where Philips has harassed and fired workers when announcing redundancies, including an illegal lockout of French employees in an effort to outsource their jobs. 

A French court later ordered Philips to reopen the facility.

Says Hall:

Philips says it is committed to collaboration with its employees when it comes to restructuring, but the way its workers in Sparta are being treated makes it clear that its business principals aren’t worth the paper they are printed on.

Click here to add your name to the petition.

And go to www.tellphilips.com for more information on the campaign.