Longtime GM ally Dingell slams restructuring plan

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Debbie Dingell, one of the automotive industry's staunchest supporters in Congress and a former General Motors executive, chastised the company's decision Monday to idle or close U.S. assembly plants and vowed to fight its policy wishes if it doesn't prevent huge job losses.

The Michigan Democrat and spouse of retired longtime congressman John Dingell said she would support President Donald Trump's threat to pull electric vehicle tax credits and stopping the revamped NAFTA trade deal set to be signed this week if it turns out the manufacturing jobs get moved offshore or to Mexico.

"How this gets dealt with matters, because I will make sure that GM does not locate one more plant in Mexico. They'll never, ever get my support on anything," Dingell said Wednesday in a CNN interview.

"We need to get a far better understanding of what GM is up to. I don't like what I'm hearing on the grapevine, which is that they are going to move production to another country. We need to understand what their product plans are, what they are benefiting from," she added.

Assembly plants in Ontario, Ohio and Michigan, as well as two other propulsion plants, are slated to close next year unless the company decides to replace slow-moving products at the locations with other models. Officials said more than 14,000 jobs, including those of salaried workers, could be eliminated.

Under staggering criticism from the White House and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, GM responded on Tuesday by saying it remains "committed to maintaining a strong manufacturing presence in the U.S., as evidenced by our more than $22 billion investments in U.S. operations since 2009."

On the expected job cuts, GM said: "Many of the U.S. workers impacted by these actions will have the opportunity to shift to other GM plants where we will need more employees to support growth in trucks, crossovers and SUVs. GM's transformation also includes adding technical and engineering jobs to support the future of mobility, such as new jobs in electrification and autonomous vehicles."

Dingell suggested new models could be put back in one of the plants when contract talks with the UAW reopen next year and that GM should follow Ford Motor Co.'s lead in shifting workers to busier plants instead of laying them off.

Ford on Wednesday said it would downsize operations at two plants and relocate workers to other locations.

Dingell, who served as president of the GM Foundation and as a senior executive for public affairs at GM, said the automaker has done what nobody has been able to since Trump took office nearly two years ago -- unite Democrats and Republicans.

"This has to be the most thoroughly disliked company in Washington, D.C., right now," Dingell said.

She criticized GM for callous treatment of its workers.

"We need to be supporting companies that are creating jobs here, supporting jobs here. ... Other companies are dealing with this, but they care about the workers. I'm not sure they showed an ounce of support or caring for the working men and women who are impacted by these announcements," Dingell said.

She said the government needs to provide more tax credits to consumers and charging infrastructure to support companies such as GM that are pursuing electric vehicles.