U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (grey suit) talks to Bill Berry, left, Plant Manager Joe Mazzeo and UAW Acting Chair Scott Brink, right. (MyBayCity Photo by Dave Rogers)

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"Keep It Moving!" Federal Auto Chief Calls Bay City GM Plant "Impressive"

Transportation Secretary LaHood Tours PowerTrain, Cites "Big Vision"

July 3, 2011
By: Dave Rogers

What's the key to continued manufacturing growth in the United States?

"Union-management cooperation," says Ray LaHood, U.S. Transportation Secretary who visited here Wednesday and went on a whirlwind plant tour.

"Very impressive, very impressive! Keep it moving!" exclaimed Mr. LaHood to a room full of enthusiastic GM employees, local and federal politicians and news media members.

The Secretary made a point of shaking hands with every worker he could, including Scott Brink, acting UAW Local 362 chairman, Dennis Schoberth, a machine setup worker who had bicycled to work, and Kim Rouech, electrician on the new FAMO line producing camshafts for the Volt and Cruze.

Others he greeted in the plant included Jeff Yoder, a foreman, and production workers Josh Werner and Deanna McKay.

All observers agreed Bay City has made the right moves to save one of its most vital employers, the General Motors PowerTrain plant on Woodside Avenue.





Mayor Chris Shannon recalled how the local plant, considered on the verge of closure a few years ago, was saved:

1-Union and management partners at the plant expanded a 25-year tradition of the United Auto Workers "living agreement" that has won praise in national news.

2-A GM Retention Committee was formed in cooperation with the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce and made flying trips to Washington to support the auto industry; and

3-The city commission granted a 100 percent tax abatement for 50 years for any corporate investment in the local plant.

The result? GM plowed more than $150 million into the local plant, added dozens of employees to boost the workforce over 400 and took on new longterm business making parts for the Chevy Volt and Cruze and trucks.

Shelley Hart, plant personnel manager, said the firm is nearing the point where all laid off workers will be placed and new hires will be needed.

Construction is underway in the center of the plant for new equipment that will help solidify the local firm's future. About half the plant's one million square feet is available for expansion.

"With hard work you have plant metrics second to none," asserted Mayor Shannon. "These kind of results support the Obama Administration's thrust in advanced manufacturing."





Mr. LaHood, noting he had just come from visits to GM plants in Flint, said: I am struck by the high level of cooperation between management and the union; this is absolutely critical to success."

He spoke of President Obama's "big vision" that took "hard earned American tax dollars and turned them into jobs making the Volt, Cruze, trucks and other vehicles people want to buy."

The Secretary concluded: "This is a success story that needs to be told over and over."

The mayor noted that the GM plant here is one of the oldest sites of continuing manufacturing in the area, dating to the 1860s when it was used to make water pipe out of logs strapped in steel. A bicycle plant on the site was acquired by GM founder William Durant, "who saw it was making the best bicycle wheels and could make the auto parts he needed," the mayor observed.







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