UPDATE: UAW represented at State of the Union address

UPDATE (02/05/19, 9:35 a.m.): UAW Secretary-Treasurer Ray Curry has accepted the invitation of Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (Miss-02) to attend the State of the Union representing the UAW, International Union.

UAW Lordstown and Warren local presidents to attend as guests of Ryan, Levin

DETROIT, MI – Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09), vice chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee, and Congressman Tim Ryan (OH-13), co-chair of the U.S. House Manufacturing Caucus, have invited UAW Presidents Ghana Goodwin-Dye (Warren Local 909) and Dave Green (Youngstown Local 1112) to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 5.

Following General Motor’s (GM) announcement last November that it was closing four plants and eliminating the jobs of 14,000 American workers — including Green’s and Goodwin-Dye’s plants in Youngstown, Ohio and the Warren (Michigan) Powertrain Plant — the UAW leaders hope to use the SOTU visit as a visible opportunity to let the UAW voice be heard.

Reminding legislators of how UAW workers and US taxpayers came to the rescue of the company in 2008, they will encourage representatives to insist GM repay the support and dedication, and invest in the US not Wall Street.

“I hope to get an opportunity to speak with Representatives about the impact GM’s decision is having on not just my members, but other businesses and the charitable institutions we support,” explains Goodwin-Dye. “GM has other options. Our government has given them tax breaks to build jobs for our people, but instead GM used those tax breaks to build facilities in other countries. The Warren plant was the first to meet GM quality standards and what we got for that was our doors are closing. It’s a slap in the face.”

Green, who has written to President Trump about the situation at his plant, says he is looking forward to attending the address, to talking with legislators in attendance, and to have the opportunity for the UAW to be heard.

“I am honored to be invited and to be able to represent the greatest workers in the world,” he says.

The State of the Union address will take place on Tuesday, February 5, 2019, beginning at 9:00 p.m.