Senator cites company’s layoffs in Youngstown

COLUMBUS — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, criticized General Motors last week for reports that the company plans to build the new Chevrolet Blazer at facilities in Mexico.

Brown is speaking out about the move by General Motors to send jobs to Mexico as the second shift at the company’s facility in Lordstown ended.

“GM’s timing on this outrageous decision could not have been worse,” Brown said in a statement. “On the same day GM is laying off workers in Youngstown, the company is bypassing American workers and sending more jobs to Mexico. GM should reverse this irresponsible decision, and use its tax windfall to invest in American workers.”

The company announced layoffs in Lordstown in April.

At the time, Brown wrote a letter to CEO Marry Barra, criticizing the move the announced layoffs and urging GM to reverse their decisions.

The senator called on the company to use the tax windfall it received from recent tax cuts to invest in its facility and the workers in Lordstown.

Brown’s office said, after the tax overhaul passed by congressional Republicans and signed into law by President Donald Trump, General Motors “is able to bring their $6.9 billion in overseas cash back to the U.S. at less than half of the tax rate the corporation would formerly have paid and immediately deduct the cost of any new investments in plant and equipment.”