True Blue Friday Event Shows Support For Lordstown Plant

The Lordstown, Ohio factory is set to close Friday, March 8. While many of the workers there have transferred to new jobs at other General Motors factories, the loss of jobs is devastating to the community. The Drive It Home organization, a campaign urging GM to invest in its Lordstown factory, is hosting its True Blue Friday event, designed to not only show support plant workers on their last day but also to show General Motors the community wants to build future vehicles. The organization is asking the public to join in, too. In addition to the True Blue Friday event, the Lordstown High School will take a large-scale group shoot in the parking lot at 3:35 p.m., according to WFMJ.

Sadly, there’s little hope General Motors will bring any new products to its Lordstown factory. While some want GM to bring a new green car to the factory, it appears the automaker is looking for someone to take over the factory. It doesn’t appear GM is selling the property. Instead, it sounds like its looking for someone else to move in. However, that’s just speculation at the moment. The final Chevrolet Cruze has already rolled off the line.

The Drive It Home campaign is also asking the public to join in on its True Blue Friday event. To do so, it’s asking people to: 

1. Wear blue on Friday, March 8. 
2. Take a picture by yourself, with your GM vehicle, or coworkers. 
3. Post the picture to social media using the hashtags #DriveItHomeOhio #SaveGMLordstown #SaveLordstown and #GMInvestInUs.
4. Email the photo to [email protected]. 

The Drive It Home campaign will share the photos it receives on its own social media pages while sending a copy of all the submitted photos to GM CEO Mary Barra. 

The response to GM closing five North American factories—four in the U.S. and one in Canada—has been mixed. Unifor, the Canadian workers union, has taken a confrontational stance against the automaker for its plan to close the Oshawa, Ontario factory. The United Auto Workers union in the U.S. has filed a lawsuit against the automaker in hopes of extending operations at three U.S. factories.