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NEWS BRIEFS
Ohio critics of GM closure want factory saved
MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A push to save a General Motors Corp. plant is expanding in recession-battered Ohio.
Leaders of a Mansfield-based group have launched a Web site, begun an e-mail and letter-writing campaign and will hold a July 4th rally Saturday to bring attention to their cause.
Mansfield Makes Sense for the New GM wants to convince GM that closing the Mansfield/Ontario Metal Center is bad business. A Web site gives information about the stamping plant and community along with contact information for GM and government officials.
“We’re not going into this blind — and know it’s a long shot,” Ontario Mayor Ken Bender said. “We need to do what we can.”
Supporters gathered last week at the Mansfield-Richland Chamber of Commerce to learn more about the campaign.
“The Chamber of Commerce does not normally question the decisions that private, individual corporations make,” committee coordinator Steve Cobb said. “But since the public now owns about 50 percent of the company, we want to make sure these decisions are made properly and transparently.”
GM placed the factory, which employs about 1,200, on a list of 14 plants slated for closure as part of the automaker’s bankruptcy restructuring.
Opponents of the decision argue it’s a productive and efficient plant. A message was left with GM Friday.
Local governments in the area and businesses are paying for the effort. The United Auto Workers has contributed $20,000, the City of Ontario $15,000, and $5,000 each will come from the City of Mansfield and Richland County.
GM’s government-backed plan for a quick exit from Chapter 11 protection hinges on the sale of most of its assets to a new entity, allowing the automaker to leave behind many of the costs and liabilities that have made it unprofitable.
The Detroit car maker’s June 1 filing for bankruptcy protection was the fourth-largest in U.S. history.
Existing GM shareholders are expected to be wiped out.
The remaining pieces of the company, including some closed plants, will become the “Old GM” and will be liquidated.
GM hopes to emerge as a leaner company, less burdened by debt and labor costs as it faces a severe recession that has sapped car and truck sales. Automakers have seen sales tumble in the first half of this year.
