Ohio senators to meet with GM chief this week

Sens. Sherrod Brown (D) and Rob Portman (R) from Ohio are scheduled to meet with General Motors Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra on Wednesday, after the automaker announced last week that it would halt production at a plant in the Buckeye State.

The senators announced the planned meeting on Monday and said it would take place in Portman’s office.

{mosads}GM said that it is planning to lay off 15 percent of its salaried workers and would not assign products in 2019 to five plants in North America, including a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, in the northeast part of the state.

The company’s announcement has angered the White House as well as lawmakers in both political parties.

Both Brown and Portman have already spoken to Barra and have called on GM to save the jobs in Lordstown. The senators plan to continue to fight to save the plant in their meeting later this week.

“I hope the company sees the incredible potential in this plant, by keeping it open and bringing other production back to the [Mahoning] Valley,” Portman said in a news release.

Brown said that “GM needs to stand by Ohio, and the workers who make their company successful.”