Trump presses GM, UAW to start talks now over closed Ohio plant

President Trump on Monday ratcheted up pressure on General Motors to engage in talks to reopen a shuttered plant in Ohio, one day after he separately blamed the company CEO and a local union leader for the closure.

Trump urged GM and United Automobile Workers (UAW) leaders to start negotiations “now” rather than waiting until the fall, when the union’s contract runs out.

{mosads}”I want jobs to stay in the U.S.A. and want Lordstown (Ohio), in one of the best economies in our history, opened or sold to a company who will open it up fast!” he tweeted. “Car companies are all coming back to the U.S. So is everyone else.”

“Close a plant in China or Mexico, where you invested so heavily pre-Trump, but not in the U.S.A. Bring jobs home!” he added.

General Motors and the UAW are going to start “talks” in September/October. Why wait, start them now! I want jobs to stay in the U.S.A. and want Lordstown (Ohio), in one of the best economies in our history, opened or sold to a company who will open it up fast! Car companies…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2019

….are all coming back to the U.S. So is everyone else. We now have the best Economy in the World, the envy of all. Get that big, beautiful plant in Ohio open now. Close a plant in China or Mexico, where you invested so heavily pre-Trump, but not in the U.S.A. Bring jobs home!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2019

General Motors announced plans last November to cut 15,000 jobs and close manufacturing sites in Lordstown as well as Detroit-Hamtramck, Mich., and Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. It also announced at the time that it planned to close auto parts factories in Warren, Mich., and White Marsh, Md.

The president has pressured the company via Twitter in recent days over the Lordstown plant, which closed earlier this month.

On Sunday, he appeared to blame a local union leader for the company’s decision and later tweeted that he spoke to GM CEO Mary Barra to express his displeasure.

The Youngstown Vindicator reported that the current contract between GM and the UAW expires in September, and the two sides will engage in negotiations in the coming months.

GM told The Hill that the “ultimate future of the unallocated plants will be resolved between GM and the UAW.”

Trump campaigned on a pledge to save manufacturing jobs, and he has regularly touted new investments in U.S. factories and the overall strength of the economy.

The president’s decision to go after a local union boss comes as Democratic candidates running to unseat him in 2020 are pushing their message to workers across the Midwest.