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Officials aim to send message to GM
LORDSTOWN
Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.7-million member American Federation of Teachers, was the main speaker at Thursday’s Drive It Home Ohio rally at Lords-town High School.
The Drive it Home Ohio campaign is a grassroots coalition of business, labor and elected leaders who have come together to urge GM to reinvest in keeping the GM Lords-town manufacturing facility open.
But the stories told by people introduced by Weingarten are what resonated with the 200-plus people in the school auditorium.
They included Lordstown students who say they would miss their friends if the Lordstown Complex closes in March as announced; teachers who love their students and may have to give up their school jobs to follow a GM job; and GM employees and their families who might have to transfer to other GM facilities and give up their homes and start again.
The purpose of the rally was to send a message to GM leaders that the people affected by a shutdown are not just numbers, but are people, and the effects are devastating.
“That’s what tonight is all about,” said Weingarten.
“We had a vision that a representative of GM would be here to hear these stories. They did not, but we feel it is essential that GM knows the impact of their decisions. It is my job to make sure the comments made here tonight are heard by GM,” she said.
“We’re hoping this has an impact and that GM is paying attention and will try to find a new product for GM Lordstown. It has a huge negative impact on the school and it is tearing families apart,” said Bill Padisak, president of the Mahoning-Trumbull AFL-CIO.
Alyssa Brookbank, president of Lordstown Teachers Association Local 3789, hosted the rally, along with the Ohio Federation of Teachers and American Federation of Teachers.
“We’re here to show our support for the families affected. Families will be torn apart. Friends will lose friends,” said Brookbank.
“We want GM to bring back a new product for the Lordstown facility. The choice was to sit back and do nothing or do something,” she said.
Among the people who told their stories was Mark Naples of Columbiana, who works for Magna, which supplies seats for GM.
“Magna closes down when GM closes down,” said Naples, whose wife, Julie, is a Sebring elementary teacher, and their children, age 14, 13 and 11, attend South Range Schools.
“I sat the children down and talked to them. They understand, but I don’t want to uproot them.”
“It’s affecting everybody,” said Alexis Phillips, a senior at Lordstown High School.
“It dominates the conversations between you and your friends. Some of their houses have been put on the market. It makes me sad,” Alexis said.
“Closing doesn’t make any sense,” said Tom Davis, who has worked at GM Lordstown since 2001.
“We don’t want to move,” said Davis and his wife, Tiffany, a Lordstown schoolteacher, who have two children: Aubrey, 5, and Brian, 10, who had a message for GM’s leadership.
“We bailed you out, and your way of thanking us is to close the plant,” Brian said, drawing applause from the audience.
“GM is an American company. The bailout means it has a long-term obligation, not just to its shareholders, but to all Americans. We’re not giving up on GM. We’re going to do everything we can to get GM to stay in the Mahoning Valley,” said Weingarten.
The rally ended with a musical online message to GM performed by the Austintown Middle School choir and composed by Assistant Principal Marc Pupino that said, “We Love GM,” and encouraged the car manufacturer to give the Lordstown plant a new car to build.
The video, which brought down the house, has received over 60,000 hits in less than a week, said Austintown schools Superintendent Vincent Colaluca.