Valley labor leaders praise Strickland’s guidance

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Three Mahoning Valley labor leaders say Gov. Ted Strickland’s leadership has led to a surge in the area’s manufacturing industry.

Manufacturing employment in the area increased by 8.9 percent in the second quarter of 2010 compared with the first three months of the year, the nation’s largest gain in that sector.

Dave Green, president of United Auto Workers Local 1714, and Jim Graham, president of the United Auto Workers Local 1112, both at the Lordstown General Motors complex, along with Don Crane, president of the Western Reserve Building Trades Council, on Friday praised Strickland’s leadership.

Strickland, a Democrat, is facing Republican John Kasich and two minor-party candidates in the Nov. 2 general election.

The governor’s involvement in negotiations with V&M Star helped the company decide to build a $650 million expansion in Youngstown and Girard, Crane said.

“This sum represents the largest investment in the Mahoning Valley in industry in over 50 years,” he said. “This expansion will not only grow manufacturing jobs at V&M, but hundreds of new jobs for builders and tradesmen.”

Green and Graham said Strickland played a significant role in the expansion of the Lordstown complex, home to the new Chevrolet Cruze.

“The naysayers never thought that we would see a re-emergence of the auto industry, but Ted Strickland knew better,” Green added. “Under Ted Strickland, GM was able to reinvent itself right here in Ohio. As a result, 1,200 workers will return to the assembly lines to produce one of the top-selling cars in America.”