LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Signs at the entrance of the GE Appliances plant say “Maintain 6ft. social distancing,” but union leaders are trying to distance employees from the plant altogether after a worker was quarantined due to the novel coronavirus.

Over the weekend, crowds of workers picketed outside the massive campus – employees in a cluster of buildings responsible for producing appliances including the Haier-owned business’ iconic washing machines and dishwashers. Workers, led by IUE-CWA Local 83761 President Dino Driskell, demanded production shut down for fear of their health. 

In a Tuesday statement, a Haier spokesperson wrote that one of its employees had a probable case of COVID-19. They added, “Out of an abundance of caution, Building Three at Appliance Park will be closed for production for 48 hours while we bring in third-party service providers to professionally disinfect the affected areas, with additional focus on high touch surfaces and high traffic areas.” They went on to say “unaffected areas” of building three would resume production beginning with Friday’s first shift. 

That didn’t sit well with Driskell. In a Wednesday statement, he wrote, “I will be exploring taking a park-wide strike vote in light of the company’s unwillingness to respond in this crisis.”

He closed by providing a phone number for the governor’s office and wrote, “Let [Gov. Andy Beshear] know that our lives are more important than appliances!”

Spectrum News 1 reached out to GE Appliances and the office of Dino Driskell. A GE Appliances spokesperson replied that there was no further information and that the employee’s medical test had not yet been confirmed positive. As of Thursday evening, no one from IUE-CWA Local 83761 had returned our call.