GM Creates 450 Jobs In Ohio By Investing $700M

[John]

GM to invest $700 million and create 450 jobs in Ohio as it negotiates sale of Lordstown plant

PUBLISHED AN HOUR AGOUPDATED 13 MIN AGO
Ashley Turner@ASHLEY_MTURNER
KEY POINTS

• General Motors said it is investing $700 million and creating about 450 new manufacturing jobs in Ohio.
• The automaker also said it is in talks with electric truckmaker Workhorse Group to sell its Lordstown, Ohio plant.

GM workers rally outside the GM Lordstown plant on March 6, 2019 in Lordstown, Ohio. The sprawling facility was idled today after more than 50 years of producing cars and other vehicles.
Jeff Swensen | Getty Images

General Motors said Wednesday it’s investing $700 million and creating about 450 new manufacturing jobs in Ohio as it negotiates the sale of its Lorsdtown, Ohio, factory to electric truckmaker Workhorse Group.

“The U.S. economy and our core business are strong, so we can expand our commitment to U.S. manufacturing and Ohio and create job opportunities for our employees,” said GM CEO Mary Barra said in a statement Wednesday. “We also expect to bring more jobs to the U.S. over time in support of the expected provisions of the USMCA.”

The company said the new jobs its creating will be at its Toledo, Parma and Moraine facilities in Ohio.

President Donald Trump preempted the automaker’s announcement over Twitter about an hour beforehand, thanking Barra for selling the plant to Workhorse and reinvesting money in other facilities in Ohio. GM’s later said it was in “discussions” with Workhorse to buy the plant, but it didn’t confirm that a sale has been agreed to yet.

“GREAT NEWS FOR OHIO!” Trump tweeted Wednesday.

Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump
GREAT NEWS FOR OHIO! Just spoke to Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, who informed me that, subject to a UAW agreement etc., GM will be selling their beautiful Lordstown Plant to Workhorse, where they plan to build Electric Trucks. GM will also be spending $700,000,000 in Ohio...
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Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump
· 2h
GREAT NEWS FOR OHIO! Just spoke to Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, who informed me that, subject to a UAW agreement etc., GM will be selling their beautiful Lordstown Plant to Workhorse, where they plan to build Electric Trucks. GM will also be spending $700,000,000 in Ohio...

Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump
....in 3 separate locations, creating another 450 jobs. I have been working nicely with GM to get this done. Thank you to Mary B, your GREAT Governor, and Senator Rob Portman. With all the car companies coming back, and much more, THE USA IS BOOMING!
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Workhorse is a Loveland, Ohio-based automaker that specializes in manufacturing electric vehicles. If the sale goes through, it would be run by a newly formed affiliate that would be partially owned by Workhorse, executives said.

“This potential agreement creates a positive outcome for all parties involved and will help solidify the leadership of Workhorse’s role in the EV community,” Workhorse CEO Duane Hughes said in a statement. Company founder Steve Burns added that if Workhorse purchases the plant, the company will focus on building a commercial electric pickup truck.

Preparing the Lordstown plant for production could begin immediately once the sale is complete, GM said in a statement.

GM in March shuttered its Lordstown plant, which built more than 16 million new vehicles over 50 years, to refocus its production on more the profitable trucks and SUVs Americans prefer today. Barra is phasing out most sedans and compact cars to ramp up production of utility vehicles and invest more in autonomous driving and electric vehicles.


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General Motors ‘in discussions’ to sell Lordstown complex

By the end of this year, the company will have closed five production plants across the U.S. and Canada as part of its plan announced last year to cut 14,000 jobs.

Trump previously criticized GM’s decision to sell the plant, putting pressure on the company to resume operations. In November, he threatened to cut subsidies to the automaker after it announced it planned to slash production.

After the Lordstown facility closed in March, Trump said Barra “blamed” the United Auto Workers union, or UAW, which represents workers at the plant, for its closure.

“I don’t care, I just want it open!” Trump tweeted in March.

The UAW said in a statement that it will “monitor the situation” around the Lordstown plant and will determine the course of action that will best benefit members. Its lawsuit against GM, which claims its existing contract prohibits GM from idling plants, is still pending.

“The UAW’s position is unequivocal: General Motors should assign a product to the Lordstown facility and continue operating it,” the UAW said in a statement.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/08/gm-s...io-cities.html

[Plasboy]

I just love that the UAW thinks they should be able to tell GM it should keep a plant open that’s no longer needed or profitable. Suppose they would rather see GM go belly up and loose all the jobs.
Good for GM in their above actions.

[John]

Good for GM to continually offer more of its jobs to those UAW employees who were laid off or about to be laid off. So leaving politics out of this, so nice that more and more of the UAW members are getting job offers in other GM plants. Let’s hope that before the year is out, with an expected major announcement coming out of a Texas GM plant, 400 more jobs at BG, and other jobs opening up latter this year, that there would be a good job for all laid off GM workers somewhere within GM.