LORDSTOWN — The last Chevrolet Cruze rolled off the assembly line at a General Motors plant where 1,700 hourly positions are being eliminated, perhaps for good.
Workers gathered outside GM’s Lordstown plant Wednesday after their last shift.
“It’s sad,” said one. “We’re putting robots in repair positions and getting everything ready for shutdown.”
Some say they don’t know what the future holds. The factory near Youngstown is the first of five North American auto plants that GM plans to shut down by early next year.
In Washington and Columbus, lawmakers fought to save or restore the lost jobs and criticized the automaker and President Donald Trump, who has claimed that his policies are bringing jobs to states like Ohio, even as GM idles thousands of employees.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (above) blasted Trump from the Senate floor in Washington on Tuesday.
“The President makes lots of big promises but has failed to stand up for auto workers time and time again. His comments are a slap in the face to Lordstown workers,” said Brown.
In remarks to U.S. governors last week, Trump said, “And we have car companies opening up in Michigan and Ohio and Pennsylvania.”
Brown reintroduced legislation that would give $3,500 discounts to customers who buy cars manufactured in the U.S. and a $4,500 discount if the car is electric or a plug-in hybrid. Brown says he added the provision that would provide incentives to buyers of electric cars after GM announced its intention to launch more than 20 new zero-emissions vehicles by 2023 in hopes that the automaker would agree to build one of those products in Lordstown.
Workers at the plant that employed 4,500 people just two years ago are asking GM to give them another vehicle to build.
Brown’s “American Cars, American Jobs Act” would also revoke a tax cut on overseas profits for auto manufacturers that ship jobs overseas.
The Ohio House on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution urging GM to allocate a new product to the plant, which produced more than 16 million vehicles since it opened in 1966.
“As the last Chevy Cruze makes its way off the line, we remain committed to the workers, suppliers and families in the Mahoning Valley faced with real uncertainty about their futures,” said House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes (D-Akron).
The resolution noted that GM has received more than $60 million in tax credits from Ohio over the past decade.
The closings are part of a major restructuring for GM, but they still must be negotiated with the union.
Trump has said he wants the plant to stay open.