DETROIT – Two UAW executives have issued statements Monday in response to the recent announcement of the General Motors layoffs and plant closures.
Last week, GM officials announced the company would layoff 14,700 workers in North America as it prepares to close plants in the same region, including its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant and Warren Transmission Operations.
The following assembly plants will be closed in 2019:
Oshawa Assembly in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Detroit.
Lordstown Assembly in Warren, Ohio.
The following propulsion plants will be closed in 2019:
Baltimore Operations in White Marsh, Maryland.
Warren Transmission Operations in Warren, Michigan.
UAW President Gary Jones:
“We have been clear that the UAW will leave no stone unturned and use any and all resources available to us regarding the future of these plants. Today, we wrote to GM formally objecting to its unilateral decision regarding four U.S. manufacturing facilities. There are issues related to this and to collective bargaining that we cannot discuss in detail at this point. But UAW members across this country are committed to using every means available to us on behalf of our brothers and sisters at Lordstown, Hamtramck, Baltimore and Warren, MI. UAW members and U.S. taxpayers invested in GM during their darkest days. Now it is time for them to invest in us."
UAW Vice President Terry Dittes:
“This issue impacting our members, their families, the communities and all of America is much more complicated due to the known fact that GM is a major importer of their brands from China, Canada and Mexico that are sold in the United States. Versions of the Chevy Cruze and Impala are assembled in Mexico and Canada respectively and imported to the U.S. and those two vehicles are also assembled at Lordstown Ohio and Detroit Hamtramck Plant here in the USA.”