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GM Lordstown retirees don’t believe the plant should be closed
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LORDSTOWN
Four retirees, with a combined 152 years at the General Motors Lordstown Complex, talked about the bad years and the good years and their frustration and disappointment that the last car made at the plant, a Chevrolet Cruze, was to roll off the assembly line Wednesday.
“The whole area, and we as workers, were committed to the plant. It’s very sad to see it go,” said Robert Jackson, 78, of Liberty.
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In this video, Vindicator Managing Editor Mark Sweetwood, sits down with reporters Sam Phillips, Graig Graziosi, and Jess Hardin to discuss the events around Lordstown and the final days of the Cruze production.
“It’s almost like losing someone in your family. It’s a really sad situation. You just have to work through it and help wherever you can,” said Bill Bowers, 73, of Howland, chairman of the United Autoworkers Retirees Association at the GM facility.
“In a union position, you get to know everybody,” said Bowers, who was a representative for United Auto Workers Local 1112 for many years and former president of Local 1112.
“I enjoyed the jobs I had and the people I worked around. The van plant was like home. If you came in sick, people helped you out,” said Jackson.
“Working at GM Lordstown meant everything,” said Robert Pallard, 72, of North Lima, who worked as a coordinator and an inspector. “Working at GM Lordstown was our life.”
“It was a good place to make a living for your family. You had good people to work with. I was thankful I had a good job because my former employer, Republic Steel in Youngstown, had closed,” said Robert Gostey, 80, of Canfield.
Interviewed during a meeting of the United Auto Workers Retirees Association, and via telephone, the men, with careers ranging from 30- to 52-plus years at GM Lordstown, recalled fond memories of their many years on the job and the pride they took in the vehicles they helped produce.
But they also described some tough times and made clear their disappointment and anger over GM closing the plant.
“At first it was a hell hole, but when we voted in the union in 1966, things got better,” said Gostey, who believes GM’s closing the Lordstown facility now is a negotiating ploy by the automaker.
“I believe the facility will be reopened eventually,” he said.
Pallard foresees a similar scenario.
“I suspect a couple of years down the road that the Lordstown facility will be reopened with lower wages and no benefits for employees,” he said.
“It’s sad to see GM take the position that Lordstown has to close,” said Bowers.
“We know that Lordstown is a modern production facility; that the workforce knows how to produce whatever product they are given; and they are proud of the quality of the product they put out,” Bowers said.
“To this day, wherever I travel, I ask people driving a Cruze if they like the car, and they most often say, ‘It’s the best car I ever owned.’ The Cruze is one of GM’s top five vehicles in quality and sales,” Bowers said.
“The whole thing is so hard to put your arms around. You want to say something positive, but when you see the financial devastation and trauma to families, it is difficult. When families lose the financial liberty to make some decisions, like college for their children, it can change their whole lives,” Bowers said.