Tuesday, April 17, 2018
LORDSTOWN
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown sent a blistering letter to General Motors CEO Mary Barra this week demanding answers about the 1,500 Lordstown Assembly Complex layoffs coming in June.
“This decision will be devastating to the families and communities of the workers whose lives will be impacted, and it is particularly galling after your company received massive tax benefits from the recent enactment of the corporate tax cut bill,” wrote Brown, a Democrat of Cleveland.
“I urge you to reverse this decision and instead invest your tax windfall in the facility and workers in Lordstown.”
Last Friday, the Mahoning Valley learned the second shift will be eliminated at the plant where the Chevrolet Cruze, a compact car, is produced. A total of 1,500 jobs will be cut because of the elimination, but the company announced a special attrition program which could mitigate the layoff number.
GM said on Tuesday a response to the letter would go directly to the senator and would not comment further. As of Tuesday evening, the senator’s office hadn’t released a response from the company.
In addition to those jobs, an unknown amount of supplier jobs will also be cut at local supplier plants.
“I am aware that the company believes reduced market demand for the Cruze justifies the layoffs," Brown wrote, "but that does not explain why the company refuses to use its tax windfall and its world-class Lordstown workforce to retool the facility to assemble a more profitable car.”