LORDSTOWN, OH – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) hosted a roundtable with Lordstown workers at UAW Local 1112 as he continues pushing GM to do the right thing by workers and bring a new product to the Lordstown plant. Brown was joined at today’s roundtable by GM workers, as well as workers from local suppliers like MAGNA and Jamestown Industries, who will be harmed by GM’s decision.  Brown brought together workers on the day honoring Dr. Martin Luther King to echo Dr. King’s message that all labor has dignity and all workers deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. 

“Today, on Martin Luther King Day, we need to remember Dr. King’s teachings on the dignity of work.  He said to UAW workers that: ‘a society that performs miracles with machinery has the capacity to make some miracles for men if it values men as highly as it values machines.’ It’s time for GM to value the men and women, and the community making its machines,” said Brown. 

Brown has led the charge to stand up for Lordstown workers and to push GM to do right by its workers, bring a new product to Lordstown, and give workers the dignity and respect they deserve. 

Brown has called on Congress and the President to act on his American Cars, American Jobs Act, as a way to support Lordstown GM workers and the auto supply chain in Ohio. Brown’s bill, introduced last August, would get rid of the incentives for auto manufacturers to ship jobs overseas and help keep American autoworkers on the job. The Toledo Blade editorialized that Brown’s bill would “put America and American workers first.” 

Brown originally introduced his legislation after General Motors announced plans to build the new Chevy Blazer in Mexico on the same day the company ended the second shift at a plant in Lordstown. Brown’s bill would benefit Ohio companies and workers throughout the auto supply chain. The legislation would put U.S.-made cars on equal footing with foreign-made vehicles and update the tax code to remove incentives for auto companies to offshore jobs. Learn more about the bill HERE

Brown and Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) also met with GM CEO Mary Barra in December and urged GM to work with them to save Lordstown jobs. After the meeting, both Senators followed up with a letter pressing GM to bring a new product to Lordstown and give workers and the community the answers they deserve. 

In November, Brown joined Mahoning Valley autoworkers and community leaders at UAW Local 1112 to help kick off the “Drive It Home” campaign, an effort to protect auto jobs in the Mahoning Valley. 

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