The UAW delivered thousands of holiday wishes to General Motors on Friday, but those messages are likely to have a less-than-festive tone.
The union said in a news release that it submitted more than 4,000 personal letters effectively asking GM not to follow through on plans to shutter four plants in the United States, which would affect thousands of workers.
The UAW said it hand-delivered the letters to GM officials at the Renaissance Center after encouraging "members of the local communities, and friends and family of UAW workers, to write to our 'friends' at GM about their recent decision to close plants in Michigan, Ohio and Baltimore this holiday season."
RELATED: Lordstown and surrounding communities bracing for impact after GM announces end of Chevy Cruze
The letters ranged "from brief requests for GM’s continued investment in the U.S. and its people to detailed letters describing how the planned plant closings will affect countless families," according to a news release from the union. "The messages overwhelming call for GM to keep its jobs in the U.S."
In response, GM issued its own news release, emphasizing that 2,700 positions will be available at other U.S. plants, including 1,000 at Flint Assembly in 2019. The company said 1,100 workers have already volunteered to transfer, although union officials have said some workers have been unable to relocate in the past.
"We understand how the difficult decisions we made on our plants have affected our employees, families and the community. Our focus is on our employees, and as we have said, we are working very hard on providing job opportunities for impacted employees interested in working at other GM plants. We will continue to work with the UAW, community leaders and government officials going forward," according to a company statement.
The news releases highlight the public relations battle being waged between workers and the automaker, which has been buffeted by criticism in the wake of its surprise announcement in November that it was planning to "unallocate" five plants in the United States and Canada next year — Detroit-Hamtramck, Lordstown, Oshawa, Baltimore Operations and Warren Transmission.
On Thursday, Unifor, the union representing Canadian autoworkers, took out full-page advertising "cover wraps" in the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News telling GM to "Keep our plants open," and workers at Detroit-Hamtramck held a vigil at their plant. Last week, letters were mailed from Lordstown, Ohio-area school children to CEO Mary Barra asking that the automaker reconsider its plans.
