Politicians, UAW locals laud move
Local politicians and United Auto Workers leaders expressed strong approval of President George W. Bush’s decision to approve bailout packages for automakers.
"I’m very thankful that President Bush realized the disaster of doing nothing," Wentzville Mayor Paul Lambi said. Wentzville is the home of a General Motors Corp. plant that assembles the GMC Savana and Chevrolet Express full-size vans.
Lambi added he was confident the Obama administration will "work out a more complete solution" to the U.S. automakers’ difficulties.
GM’s financial problems already have forced the automaker to announce it will lay off 150 people at its Wentzville operations starting in January as it slows production at the plant. GM also is idling the local plant for four weeks during the first quarter.
In Fenton, Joe Shields, president of UAW Local 110, said the loan package gives his laid-off members at Chrysler’s idled minivan plant one less worry. Chrysler closed the plant indefinitely in October, consolidating minivan production to a plant in Windsor, Ontario.
"It’s something that I guess we can take off our plate for the time being," he said. "It’s been nerve-wracking no fax pay day loan. We didn’t create this mess."
Shields said he hopes the Fenton plant will someday be restarted for production of electric-powered vehicles. He acknowledged such work isn’t in the foreseeable future. But Shields said he hopes Americans rekindle their esteem for U.S. workers.
"We need to start buying American-made goods and start demanding we have American goods available in this country," he said.
Jerry Dennison, president of UAW Local 136, which represents workers at the adjacent Chrysler pickup plant in Fenton, said Friday he had yet to study the loan deal and had no immediate reaction to its approval.
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