PRESS RELEASE
Columbus City Council Passes Resolution To Save Auto Industry
June 20, 2005 (EIRNS)—The resolution, included below, was strongly motivated by UAW local President Mark Sweazy, who emphasized the role that Lyndon LaRouche is playing in the fight to save auto. It passed unanimously, and reads as follows:
To urge the United States Congress to intervene in the U.S. Automobile's current financial crisis so that we may ensure the continued viability of our automotive and machine tool industries.
Whereas, it is in the best interests of our national, state and local economy to have a strong and vibrant manufacutring and industrial sector; and
Whereas, Ohio's manufacturing and industrial sector has been experiencing a dramatic reduction in capacity and production over the last several decades and these reductions have contributed significantly to the decline of our state and local economies; and
Whereas, on June 7, 2005, General Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Office Rick Wagoner announced plans to reduce GM's manufacturing employment levels in the U.S. by 25,000 or more people in the 2005 to 2008 period; and
Whereas, the U.S. automobile industry has $475 billion dollars of collective debt and its bond rating has been recently lowered thus making filing for bankruptcy by the leading automobile manufacturers a very real possibility; and
Whereas, it is conceivable that the automobile industry's leading manfuacturers could close most, if not all, its factories in the United States which would cause a chain reaction of damage and devastate local suppliers Delphi and AC Delco who have over 1000 employees represented by United Auto Workers Local 969; and
Whereas, certain stop-gap measures and long-term actions should be adopted and implemented by Congress to forestall threats to our economy from the problems associated with the automotive and machine tool sectors of our economy; and
Whereas, one of the key options is federal capital investment in diversification of the productive potential of the automotive and machine tool industries into a broader mixture of production. Our nation needs to shift into the domain of essential capital goods and eocnomic infrastructure, such as the repair, expansion, and improvement of our national railway system; maintenance and improvement of water management systems; and the development of other urgently needed infrastructure projects. The result of this will be to save existing manufacturing jobs and create large new areas of employment in infrastructure and manufacturing for our citizenry in a manner comparable to the best of the New Deal programs that rescued the nation and the world from the ravages of the Great Depression; now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Columbus:
That this Council does hereby urge the United States Congress to intervene in the U.S. Automobile's current financial crisis so that we may ensure the continued viability of our automotive and machine tool industries.
Kevin L. Boyce, member of Council; Mary Jo Hudson, Member of Council; Michael C. Mentel, Member of Council; Maryellen O'Shaughnessy, Member of Council; Patsy A. Thomas, Member of Council; Matthew D. Habash, President of Council; Andreas Blevins, City Clerk; Charleta B. Tavares, Member of Council.
