LORDSTOWN, Ohio — Dave Green hopes by the time President Trump gives the State of the Union address this evening, the president will have read the letter he sent him last week.
Even better, Green hopes Trump will throw his weight behind the General Motors workers who will lose their job at the Lordstown plant here in less than a month.
It will be especially meaningful to the UAW Local 1112 president because he will be in the U.S. Capitol as a guest of Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan when the president delivers the address.
“I am hopeful he will, I guess my concern is that he’s going to be talking about how great the economy is doing. Because we’re just not feeling that. That’s not the case where we live,” he said of the devastating economic news the workers received just before Christmas late last year.
“I would consider it the ultimate win for our cause if he mentioned us Tuesday night,” said Green. “Every little bit helps, right?”
General Motors announced in late November the plant will become “unallocated” — meaning there is no vehicle designated for it. Their current car, the Chevy Cruze will see its last vehicle out the plant doors March 1.
The plant closing itself will put thousands out of work and the closure will have an enormous ripple effect throughout the Mahoning Valley.
Green implemented the “Drive it Home Ohio” campaign just before the announced closing, it pulls together the community as well as business, labor, and elected leaders to remind workers they have their back, but to also pressure GM to reallocate the Lordstown plant and keep it open.
Ryan said it would be good to hear the president acknowledge what’s happening, “You know something other than a tweet,” he deadpanned.
“I think it would be good for him to recognize that we were able to land another car from General Motors,” said Ryan.
Ryan and Green have worked together on saving the plant since Ryan headed for the union office in November when Green got the news. They say that having buy-in from both Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, as well as the Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, the Trump administration, and Republican Rep. Bill Johnson is critically important as they work with General Motors to get an allocation.
“You need that and you need their support for the legislation that’s going to help drive these jobs back into the United States, you know. It’s great to be part of the campaign, but we also have to have bipartisan support on these pieces of legislation that can really be helpful. We’ve been trying to push these things for a long time and we haven’t had much luck, so we certainly could use everyone’s help,” said Ryan.
“We’re all trying to engage General Motors. I think they recognize the importance of losing that facility to not only this area but to the whole state,” Ryan added.
The Democrat said shuttering Lordstown is a symbol this community or state or country does not need, “I mean you have an award-winning workforce, you have communities that have been committed to General Motors since the late 1960’s and you see decisions like this that rip our community apart and send workers fleeing, separating families, and the stock price goes up 6 percent.
“That to me is the best illustration of an immoral or amoral economic system. You know when you have moral workers working in an amoral economic system and it’s devastating,” said Ryan.
Despite the dire situation, Green says he remains hopeful, “I’ve got to tell you the fact that folks like congressmen Ryan and Johnson and Sens. Brown and Portman I think that’s huge to see everyone working together,” he said.
Ryan is also cautiously optimistic, “I think when they look at the workforce, as I said earlier, its award-winning, not just from within General Motors but outside third-party validators and so I think companies today, they want that, and I think we’ve got to get through all this contract talk, but I do think we’re going to be able to pull something off here,” he said.
Green isn’t the only Mahoning Valley Democrat heading to Washington today, Youngstown Mayor Tito Brown will be Sen. Portman’s guest for the president’s annual address.
The union leader said he was thrilled Ryan asked him to be at the historic speech, “I got myself a suit all pressed and ready.”
