General Electric employees in Greenville plan walkout in response to vaccine mandate

GREENVILLE, S.C. (WYFF/WMBF) - In response to a vaccine mandate, General Electric employees in Greenville said they’re expecting a “strong turnout” for a planned walkout.

WYFF News 4 received a tip saying workers will be staging a walkout from the GE Gas Power Service Center at 10:45 a.m. Thursday.

The companywide mandate at GE falls in line with the Biden administration’s executive order that requires all federal contractors to be vaccinated.

When asked for a response to the walkout, a spokesperson for GE said: “All GE U.S. employees will be fully vaccinated or receive a medical or religious accommodation by December 8th as required in the order.”

An employee, who didn’t want his name used and who has worked at the plant for 16 years, told WYFF News 4 that they were told about the mandate last week.

“So we have to be fully vaccinated by December 8 and that means for us to start getting these shots, we need to do it within the next two weeks to be able to comply with that deadline,” he said.

Gov. Henry McMaster has said that South Carolina will not stop businesses from mandating COVID-19 vaccines because the state doesn’t have the authority to do so.