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UAW reminds GM that taxpayers and the union saved the automaker
LORDSTOWN
With General Motors set to idle five plants, including one in Lordstown, next month, the United Auto Workers released a video reminding the automaker that American taxpayers and the labor union saved GM about a decade ago.
It’s the latest effort by the UAW to save the plants – and members of Congress who represent Lordstown agree with the union.
In the 21/2-minute video, a narrator says: “American taxpayers and UAW members came together and invested in GM to keep the company afloat. Taxpayers invested. UAW members invested. Workers across the industry made sacrifices and got back to work. UAW members worked, toiled and sacrificed day in and day out taking GM back to the top of the industry.”
The video says as profits soared and “other automakers retooled and invested in the U.S., GM pulled investments from the U.S. Now after making $12 billion last year, GM is ripping the rug out from under the communities, the taxpayers and the workers that invested in it.”
It adds: “GM is making a choice to put enormous profits and Wall Street ahead of American workers, but they don’t have to. GM, we invested in you. Now it’s your turn to invest in us.”
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, said: “This video is a reminder of what we all know to be true – GM’s workers and the American taxpayers stood by GM in 2008. Now that the company is successful again, it’s time for GM to stand by its workers. It’s despicable what GM is doing in Lordstown and across the country. I strongly support UAW’s decision to fight GM’s attack on American workers.”
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Cincinnati-area Republican, also backed the union.
“The UAW is right, and their video echoes what I have been saying – the American people and UAW workers have invested in and sacrificed for GM,” he said. “It’s time for GM to do right by their workers and bring a new vehicle to Lordstown.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, said: “I am extremely frustrated with GM’s decision to close the Lordstown plant. Generations of Northeast Ohioans have worked at this facility, and their decision is devastating to our community. American taxpayers and UAW workers bailed out GM and invested in the company’s future when they needed us the most. Because of the dedication and hard work of GM employees, the company has climbed back from where they were during the recession and made record profits. Now it is time for them to invest back in us. I am committed to continuing to work with GM CEO Mary Barra and President [Donald] Trump to find a new product for GM Lordstown. We will keep fighting for our community.”