(ROCHESTER, NEW YORK) – Admittedly, the news that came in August that General Motors (GM) was considering the transfer of 600 good-paying jobs from its Rochester Fuel Rail and Injector Plant “took the wind out of the sails” of the local community, United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 1097 President Dan Maloney - who also serves as President of the Rochester & Genesee Valley AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (RGVALF), tells WNYLaborToday.com.

But a subsequent and ongoing campaign that is being spearheaded by UAW International Vice President Terry Dittes (a former Region 9 Director - which covers Western and Central New York, and the States of New Jersey and Pennsylvania) and current UAW Region 9 Director Jeff Binz - has been joined by a number of elected officials, most notably U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, a movement that now has the Rochester UAW Leader and RGVALF President optimistic that the overall effort “will put the wind back in our sails.”

“(The GM announcement) was ‘definitely a kick in the gut because it’s been a continual fight to get new work’ (at the Rochester plant) - ‘and for years, we’ve been successful.’  But you ‘always have to be working three to five years, sometimes ten years, ahead,’” Maloney tells Your On-Line Labor Newspaper.  “But my ‘gut’ feeling now is that while the GM announcement ‘took the wind out of sails’ (initially), the ‘hard work’ being done by UAW International Vice President Dittes, Region Nine President Binz, our elected officials – and Senator Schumer, ‘will put the wind back in our sails.’”

It was in August that GM announced it was looking at transferring 600 jobs from its Rochester Plant to a supplier by 2021.  The local jobs are said to account for about 65% of the manufacturing work now being done in the Rochester plant, which mainly manufactures fuel rails and injectors - work done by UAW-represented Workers “who are the best in the world” when it comes to the jobs they perform, Maloney said.  There are 1,100 Workers, “all told,’ who are employed at the plant, with 870 represented by the UAW, he added.

After the announcement was made, Maloney immediately reached out to UAW Leadership, including Binz - who has personally been involved in a plant closing in New Jersey.  Maloney too knows the sting of being involved in a plant closing, having gone through it twice, while watching the lives of some of his Co-Workers “shatter” with financial and other problems.

“I was ‘fortunate to be in a Union, because the UAW negotiated early retirement packages and found jobs for Workers in other plants.’  ‘Now, I’ve put my trust in’ Vice President Dittes and Regional Director Binz ‘because they are GM guys and they know how ugly things can get.’  ‘They will fight this announcement with every ounce of their energy,’” Maloney said.

In addition to the UAW, Rochester’s Labor Movement has also offered its help and has also reached out to the elected delegation with those in the RGVALF beginning a process of individually lobbying them for help.

Meanwhile, Senator Schumer - who Maloney described as “pretty awesome” - got involved right from the git-go. 

His staff contacted the UAW and “asked all good questions” before Schumer made his move, Maloney said, when he personally called GM CEO Mary Barra and urged her to provide assurances that when the shift occurs, additional production lines and new work will be moved to Rochester.

The Senator also reminded Barra of the U.S. Government’s role in supporting GM in their time of need, as well as the role the GM Rochester Plant Workers played in helping rescue and resurrect the Automaker back in 2009, a role Schumer said should be recognized and rewarded with new production responsibility and job security for GM’s Plant in Rochester.

In a distributed press release, Senator Schumer said: “After hearing the disturbing news of GM’s plans to relocate significant production at the Rochester plant, I called GM CEO Barra to strongly convey that the GM Employees at the Rochester plant are hard-working, productive and second to none.  They play a fundamental role in the regional economy and played a key role in the resurrection of GM and this effort deserves to be rewarded with new work and job security.  During my call with GM, my message was simple: you must replace any production work stripped from the Rochester plant and cannot allow these jobs to fall by the wayside.  We in Congress stood by GM in its time of need, and these Employees made significant sacrifices to keep GM financially viable during their bankruptcy period, and I’ll keep fighting to protect their jobs for the long-term.”

Schumer was further quoted that GM’s more than 1,100 Rochester Employees have demonstrated a positive track record of producing top quality components.  

Moreover, Schumer said, the plant’s Workers have helped drive GM’s profitability and have been a vital contributor in pulling the Automaker out of financial straits following GM’s 2009 bankruptcy.

Schumer, who championed both the Federal Government’s rescue of the American Auto Industry and GM’s acquisition of the then-Delphi-owned Rochester Plant to save it from otherwise closing in 2009, said GM owes it to the Rochester Workers to award them new job-sustaining production lines in light of the announcement they are moving existing manufacturing lines from Rochester.

During GM’s bankruptcy period, these first-rate Workers, Schumer said, agreed to pay concessions and sacrificed greatly to improve cost-savings and efficiencies at the Rochester Plant in return for the safeguarding of their jobs.

Schumer said that GM turning its back on this commitment would be unacceptable.

Similarly, Schumer explained that GM has a responsibility to the American taxpayer to support American jobs like those at the Rochester plant, as the primary reason for the Federal Government’s unprecedented efforts to protect the Auto Industry from collapse.