'We're not going to give up hope,' UAW president tells GM rally


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By ED RUNYAN

and GRAIG GRAZIOSI

news@vindy.com

LORDSTOWN

DRIVE IT HOME RALLY

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UAW 1112 president Dave Green describes the last Cruze coming down the line at GM Lordstown during a Drive It Home rally today.

More than 100 supporters of the Drive It Home campaign endured frigid temperatures during a “True Blue” rally in the parking lot of Lordstown High School just after workers inside the plant put the finishing touches on the last of the GM Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruzes.

The rally participants – which included past and present United Auto Workers Local 1112 membership, Lordstown High School teachers and administration and community members – wore blue Tuesday afternoon and drove their General Motors-built vehicles to the school.

The photos will be sent to GM CEO Mary Barra.

Dave Green, president of UAW Local 1112, addressed the crowd from the back of a GM-built pickup truck and thanked them for their support.

“We’re not going to give up hope,” Green said. “GM is going to put a product in that plant.”

Earlier, the mood in the motor room in the assembly division of GM Lordstown where Dawn Williams of Warren works was “very quiet” Tuesday she told The Vindicator.

“A lot of people were just kind of in their emotions and expressing their concerns about the future, kind of counting down ... to when we see the last motor come across us,” she said.

At the rally, some supporters carried signs calling for GM to save the plant. Rose DiBernardo, whose son works in the plant, made a sign that read “Support Workers, No Mexico,” to address the company’s job outsourcing.

The Cruze ceased production in Mexico in January, but will continue to be produced in the company’s plant in Argentina for the South American market.

The last Cruze produced at the Lordstown facility will likely be completed Thursday morning. Once the car is completed, the plant will enter unallocated status and – with the exception of a few weeks of work building replacement parts – cease operation.

Williams said many workers are uncertain of what opportunities the company will offer in the weeks and months to come. She expects to be able to take a job at another plant, but the number of times she can turn down a transfer is limited before she will be separated from the company.

She said today will be a regular work day, but workers will be “taking pictures, giving hugs, well wishes because we created friendships. Sometimes we see the people we work with more than we see our families. That’s the part I’m going to miss is the friendships. Over the years, when people take transfers and retire and things like that, everybody’s spread out now.”

“When I started there, a friend of mine put my name in as a referral, and I was so excited that I finally got called there,” she said.

She started working at GM more than 10 years ago. Before GM, she had worked at various jobs, including a nursing home and warehouses. Even though she wasn’t earning her full pay rate when she started at GM, she still earned a higher wage at the plant than at any of her previous jobs.

“So it was still a blessing to get out there,” she said. “I’ve been there almost 11 years. There are still days I walk in there and say ‘I can’t believe I work at GM.’ It’s going from I can’t believe I work at GM to I can’t believe I worked at GM,” she said.

James Dignan, president of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, said the Drive It Home campaign’s focus once the plant shuts down is to help UAW members and workers in ancillary industries impacted by the plant’s closure to find work or retraining opportunities.

State Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan, D-58th, of Youngstown, issued a statement Tuesday night supporting the workers.

“State lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, are standing united in support of our true blue workers across the Mahoning Valley who will be impacted by the closure of GM Lordstown,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, a resolution sponsored by state Rep. Glen Holmes of Girard, D-63rd, calling on General Motors to keep the Lordstown Assembly Plant open unanimously passed the House Commerce and Labor Committee Tuesday. House Concurrent Resolution 6 calls on GM to allocate a new product to the Lordstown plant and affirms that workers will be ready to get back to work at the facility.

The resolution will now move to the House floor for a vote.

Today, community members wishing to support the workers are invited to join local activist Werner Lange’s vigil on Bailey Road in front of the plant beginning at 2:30 p.m.

On Friday, Terry Armstrong, superintendent of Lordstown schools, said the school’s students will be encouraged to wear blue to support the workers.

“When the school was built, GM was paying enough taxes at the time for the school to be built debt free,” Armstrong said.