Valley leaders to launch “Drive It Home” campaign
LORDSTOWN
Twenty years ago, the General Motors Lordstown plant was in a similar situation to the one it’s in today.
In the waning days of 1998, the future of the Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cavalier, and of the plant, seemed uncertain. Sales were mixed, and GM had made it known it was planning a successor to the Cavalier and the Pontiac Sunfire. There were fears the company planned to double its car production in Mexico.
So, in fall 1998, Mahoning Valley leaders – including the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, as well as management and union leaders at the plant – came together for what they called the “Bring It Home” campaign. Community members wrote letters in support of the plant; businesses showed their supports with banners and posters.
A few years later, the plant was building a new product – the Chevrolet Cobalt.
Today, there is again anxiety over the plant’s future due to the layoffs of two out of three shifts of workers who build the Chevrolet Cruze compact car.
On Monday, elected officials and business and community leaders will launch a similar campaign, calling it “Drive It Home.”
“The end goal is to get product and commitment here in Lordstown, at the GM facility,” said Dave Green, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112. “We’d like to see our plant up and running on three shifts.”
Along with Green, numerous elected officials are slated to speak at Monday’s kickoff event, including U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland; U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th; U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson of Marietta, R-6th; and Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill, according to a chamber announcement.
Chamber President/CEO James Dignan is also scheduled to speak.
Plant management is not noted as a participant or an attendee of the event, and Green said he does “not believe local management is getting that direction to actually be participants at this time.”
Reached for comment, plant communications manager Tom Mock said, “It will be interesting to see what comes out of it. We hope that it’s a positive experience in support of our team.”
He added the plant is grateful to those who have bought or leased a Lordstown-built Cruze and encouraged them to do so again.
“It’s a great time to buy a Lordstown-built Cruze because the Cruze is among the best cars built in the United States of America. Third-party reviewers have confirmed that,” Mock said.
As for what Drive It Home will look like, Green said it will involve educating the local community, as well as communities throughout the state, about the importance of manufacturing jobs.
“A lot of this is going to be about educating and building solidarity, not only here in the community, but I’d really like to let people in extended communities and throughout the state recognize the importance of manufacturing jobs. Manufacturing jobs create other jobs,” he said. “There’s service, tech, logistics and all of these jobs that are created because of manufacturing jobs. So obviously we think it’s imperative to protect the manufacturing jobs here, not only here but across the state.”
He noted, for example, there are companies throughout the state that supply parts to the plant.
“I want to make sure we encompass and reach out to these other communities so they can help support the campaign,” Green said.