TOM: Last day.
Last day of work for the Cruze.
NATASHA DEL TORO: In Lordstown, Ohio, the General Motors factory has been the town's economic engine for over 50 years.
If this plant sinks, all the communities around here sink.
DEL TORO: Now the plant is shutting down.
What will happen to its thousands of employees and their families?
MAN: It's literally breaking our family up.
DEL TORO: "Bring It Home" on America ReFramed.
♪ ♪ ♪ (car engine starting) ♪ (car horn honks) (turn signal clicking) DAVE GREEN: Well, this isn't home.
This is, uh, someplace I get to stay while working here in Bedford.
I always thought people were crazy for living on a golf course.
Like, you could be getting hit by balls and...
But it's actually kind of peaceful.
Make some phone calls, talk to the parents, talk to the kids.
I go jump in the pool.
I got a paddle board down on one side of the road.
I can walk down there and jump in the lake.
Everything all right?
MAN: Hey, how's it going?
MAN 2: Yeah, good.
How are you guys doing?
- Good.
MAN 2: Good, yeah.
I just thought I'd come out here to see what was going on.
MAN 1: Do you live out here?
- Yeah.
MAN 2: Okay.
- I own part of this place now.
MAN 2: Okay, so do I.
(laughing) Trying to get the waterfalls in the back, you know.
They sold our plant.
MAN 1: Mm-hmm.
GREEN: I got transferred out here August 19, 2019.
Roughly about a hundred Lordstown transfers here in Bedford.
Everybody waves here.
When you know, I was serving as president, I felt like, wait, right?
It's the people that I worked for, that community that I lived in, grew up in.
Here, you know, I just go to work and come home.
Little bathroom...
Living kitchen.
The kitchen-dining-living area space.
And when people come, I tell them, "Oh, this is my treehouse."
I don't know if you guys can get a shot of all the trees, but kind of like right in the middle of the trees here.
My house in Austintown's home.
This is just a place to live.
Um...
Almost feel like... You know, and I know I'm not in jail, but I'm doing my time, right?
Like, I got to come here and do my time.
It's just not home.
I'd leave if I could.
And, and I thought, just from past experience and seeing closures of other plants, how they would just close them and let them sit for a decade.
But as this has played out now?
I mean, they're building a battery plant there.
Lordstown Motors is gonna be building cars early next year.
And it really feels like that that was all planned out before it ever happened.
♪ REPORTER: This news just in to CNN, General Motors, the iconic American automaker, is cutting staff.
REPORTER: General Motors plans to close its plant in Lordstown, Ohio.
REPORTER: Under fire, GM C.E.O.
Mary Barra making the rounds on Capitol Hill today, defending her decision to lay off thousands of workers and close plants in Ohio, Michigan, and Maryland.
BARRA: It's incredibly difficult to make these types of decisions here.
MAN: What if they wanna stay in the places they are, like Youngstown and Mahoning Valley?
What about my friends and family who bailed you out, gave you a tax cut, and this is how you pay us back?
REPORTER: Do you buy it?
Do you buy that, you know, this was something that she had to do?
WOMAN: Why did they take the Blazer plant recently to Mexico?
MAN: Right.
WOMAN: Why did they not put it in one of these plants?
REPORTER: GM employees at four factories, including Lordstown, say moving will force them to leave behind relatives, even their children in some cases.
♪ ♪ GREEN: So I had got elected, but not sworn in yet, and found out that second shift was gonna go away.
And then, yeah, just a few months into my, my term here.
I found out that the whole plant was gonna be unallocated.
It was quite a shock.
MAN (on phone): The plant is going on unallocated status, but it is not being permanently closed at this time.
GREEN: We don't know that the plant's gonna close.
We don't know that the plant's gonna stay open.
(cellphone ringing) Hello, Representative, how are you?
Right now we're anticipating Wednesday.
Wednesday's the last day the vehicle rolls off the line.
(cellphone ringing) We're just gonna let that one ride.
(car horns honking) (honking continues) MAN: I've made a commitment here to show my commitment as a member of the community to keeping this plant open, because this is a lifeline for the economic vitality of the community I live in.
We don't know what the future holds... - But... - But who holds the future.
- Exactly!
And if this plant sinks, all the communities around here sink.
We will not stand for that.
At least, we won't go down without a fight.
♪ WILLIAM FRANKLIN: It defined our community.
It was steel, then the automobile industry.
That was pretty much our manufacturing identity.
My dad worked in the steel mills, he... to leave the coal mines.
He retired after 33 years in the, in the steel mills.
FILM ANNOUNCER: This is it-- steel.
Now it's finished and on its way to become a part of the new world it's building.
FRANKLIN: And unfortunately, right after he retired, the steel mill went bankrupt.
REPORTER: Youngstown Sheet & Tube, a steel company, closed most of its plant and left 5,000 people stranded without jobs.
When Frank married his wife, Becky Dill, he married into a steel family.
The entire family shared in the prosperity of the mill.
Grandchildren were raised next door to one another, brothers and sisters have remained friends.
BECKY: When you move away, it's you and I and the kids, that's it, you know.
FRANKLIN: I raised my family because I was able, coming out of college, I was able to get a job at General Motors at the Lordstown plant.
It was like a family, it was a family environment.
You work with somebody for-- particularly when we were working long hours-- you're with people from everywhere for ten hours, they become your new family.
Now we have these hits to our auto industry.
That's what these families are facing, those very hard, permanent decisions about, "Where are we going to live?"
"Where are we going to move our family to?"
Or, or if they don't have that option, "How am I going to make it?"
(car horn honks) GM C.E.O.
Mary Barra is now saying places like Lordstown might stay open past the March shutdown pending the outcome of contract talks.
Appreciated the opportunity to meet with the Ohio delegation.
I think we had a very constructive conversation.
The Lordstown plant is an unallocated plant.
We have a contract with our U.A.W., and it's very important that we respect that and work through that contract.
GM was very precise in its language saying that these are unallocated plants.
They haven't been allocated new product.
They didn't use the, you know, absolute term "closed."
People have been talking with their families about this.
They, they asked me, "You know, what should I do?"
GREEN: Hey bro, come on in!
- How're you going, sir?
- How are you?
- Good, good.
- Always a pleasure.
(knocking) GREEN: Hey, Tom!
- Hey, how're you doing?
Do you have any idea what "unallocated" even means?
You know, we were told that we were gonna build this vehicle till 2022.
What, what's "unallocated" mean to you?
If we were truly closed, then our members would have to be offered better retirement buyout, transfer packages, but because they've unallocated us, they're skirting their financial obligations to our members.
My hope is that GM puts a product here.
My fear is that they're going to end up sending everybody out before we have a chance to make that choice.
We've had quite a few people get forced to Wentzville, Missouri, and a bunch have turned it down.
JC: "You are being extended a regular status job offer."
So they want me to go to the Wentzville plant.
"If you decline this job offer, "you will be placed on a formal "leave of absence without eligibility for any "corporate-paid benefits, including pension accumulation."
That makes me angry.
I decided to decline it.
So I filled my paperwork out and I turned it down.
And it's not worth it to me to chase GM around and completely turn my life upside down.
If you refuse that, you're going to end up losing your healthcare, you're going to lose your life insurance right away, all your benefits and privileges of being a GM U.A.W.
employee.
End of the month here, Sunday, I lose my sub and I lose my healthcare.
For me, especially, um, with my diabetes, I cannot afford to keep me alive.
I have an insulin pump.
The pump supplies, the insulin, the testing strips, it's probably $1,000 a month.
So do I make my house payment or do I buy my medication?
And that's, that's what it'll come down to.
I've spoken with about a half a dozen of our members who are transferring out.
A couple have already left, and they've left families behind.
It's literally breaking, breaking our family up.
Like, me...
I don't know if me and her is going to end up staying together, I don't know what's going to end up happening.
You better make a decision, you know, because there's a really good chance Lordstown's not going to be there.
I really think we're, it's, negotiate your contract.
That we're gonna get something.
- Yeah.
I'm optimistic they're going to get something in there, because my thing is, you know, if you were going to close the plant, why didn't you just close it?
Why are you waiting, making all these people wait?
It's not as simple as Mary says, "Pick up and go."
We are being torn away from our family.
♪ MAN: I had to come up with the hardest decision of my life, and that was, you know, choosing to transfer to Flint, Michigan.
♪ GREEN: People just want to know.
Should we stay or should we go?
♪ TIFFANY: There are so many reasons it's hard to go.
♪ Both of us were raised here, fell in love here, you know, built our life here.
It would be hard to leave a place where you know people really, really care about you, and go to some place that's just unknown.
(laughing) - You give, give it back!
- Here.
(laughing) TIFFANY: I realized that they'd laid off a shift.
Then they laid off another shift.
And both of those things are scary, but that's happened before.
This was out of nowhere.
TOM: Like, we talked about this a long time ago.
Aah!
- (laughing) It tickles!
- Aah!
- It tickles!
TOM: You know, there's a chance that Dad might have to move to Kentucky or wherever and... We might have to stay here.
TIFFANY: That's nice of you!
Okay, hold hands, look for cars.
Okay.
AUBREY: Uh-oh, there's a car right there.
TOM: What happens if she quits her job and comes with me, and then in three months, they, you know, decide to put something back at Lordstown?
AUBREY: Yeah.
TIFFANY: I bet it has a lot of sugar in it, though.
Doesn't it?
AUBREY: Unicorn pop tarts, they're over there.
TIFFANY: Unicorn pop tarts?
TOM: And if we go on strike, there's a good chance we won't have any money coming in.
And it would eat into our savings really quick.
There's just too many unknowns right now.
GIRL: Oh, yay!
TIFFANY: Yay!
TOM: One of the reasons why me and Brian have a good relationship as we do is because of how much time we spend together.
TOM: Whee!
(voiceover): But as tight as me and him are right now, I'm going to try to keep it that way.
BRIAN: Whoo-hoo!
TIFFANY: She's all wrapped up in there.
TOM: We're always together.
We go somewhere, we both go somewhere.
We're always together.
(indistinct chatter) What does this represent?
BOY: Um, discs.
- They do.
What is the cranium?
STUDENTS: The skull!
- Would you have this many craniums in your body?
STUDENT: No!
I want you to discuss it.
What is it?
What is it made out of?
And I'm going to come back in a minute and we'll talk.
Okay.
STUDENT: In between each two vertebrae is a soft cushion.
This cushion is called a disc.
Okay.
I could also hold the bottom.
MAN: She's a phenomenal educator.
We benefit every day by having her in the classroom.
Her husband works at the plant, and is faced with a decision herself whether she's going to stay here or leave to take a transfer.
This could be, like, the bottom of the spinal... TIFFANY: Do you remember what's at the base?
TIFFANY (voiceover): It would make sense in a way for us to move wherever it is that we need to go for him to have a job.
But if we leave, we leave my career.
I've been teaching for ten years.
I finally found, you know, my place there and I love the community.
I don't want to leave unless I know I have to.
And I keep hearing every day from different people in the union and on the floor that we're going to be fine.
It's just negotiation tactics, they're going to end up putting something back here.
But if they don't, yeah, I'll have to go.
♪ TIFFANY KING: It's just not that easy just to pick up your stuff and go.
I am Tiffany King and I work at General Motors, Lordstown.
I've been there for 23 years and I also am the owner-operator of Bumpers Cheesecakery.
And I've been doing that for five years.
We actually met at the plant.
We met in the trim shop.
We just got to talking.
We had a love of '80s music.
And I quizzed him on '80s music, and he knocked it out the park, he killed it.
No way!
(voiceover): And, here we are, almost 15 years.
I used to hang bumpers.
So that's why I named my company after bumpers.
I used to hang front and rear bumpers, and I wanted to pay homage to my GM U.A.W.
folks, 'cause they helped get my business started.
I am on my way to make a delivery to Sherry's house for her cheesecake.
She's one of my favorite customers.
She ordered a Reese's peanut butter cup for her grandson's confirmation.
So I'm excited to see her.
♪ SHERRY: Here she is.
KING (voiceover): I mean, they're your family.
You think about it, you're with these people for eight, sometimes up to 12 hours a day.
They're your family away from your family.
SHERRY: That's a work of art.
That's beautiful.
These are the best in the world.
- Aw...
I just love her cheesecakes.
And she makes so many different flavors and she prototypes so many.
I just love them.
I mean, like, who would think of a root beer float cheesecake?
The last incentive they put for retirement, this past July, I took, but I also have two sons out there, and the one got laid off the first batch, and he's moved on into the computer field.
And my other son went to Wentzville.
It is extremely hard, extremely hard to say goodbye.
Many people have cried on my shoulder about what's going on and the decisions that they've had to make, whether it was to stay or to go.
Thank you.
(soft moan) ♪ KING: I may have to transfer.
INTERVIEWER: And would your, would your husband transfer, as well, or...?
- I don't think so.
He is, he, he has said no.
I'm not leaving to chase the, to be a GM gypsy.
Been in two or three different plants and having to start over every time you go somewhere.
I love you.
- I love you, too, bye.
I've invested too many years in there.
I want my pension and benefits.
MAN: If you have to do it, you have to do it, but it wouldn't be easy.
KING: How do you say goodbye to somebody that's been a part of your life for that long, that you see every day?
You know, that you...
He's, he's my best friend.
I'm just not there yet.
I'm not ready to volunteer to go yet.
RICK MARSH: This area, this valley, if you know anybody that's from here, it's always home.
She's 13 years old and mentally, she's about one and a half.
♪ You are my sunshine ♪ My only sunshine ♪ You make me happy ♪ When skies are gray LINDSAY: This is my daughter, my youngest, Abby.
She's autistic and she's got cerebral palsy.
(machine playing music) - Hey!
- Abby, come here.
(Rick coughing, music playing) - What's he got?
(woman laughing) RICK: It took a bathtub full of water and pulled the drain out.
It's, it's impacted every aspect of our lives.
Uprooting her out of this school system, where she's had the same one-on-one aide in school for four or five years, her physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and finding that aide that you're comfortable with took us years!
We were told that she would never walk.
She walked when she was nine.
She still has not had a chance to speak to us, but I will never give up hope on that.
Someday she will.
But having the right supports in, in place, in her being where she needs to be, and around people that know her, it's the only way that's going to happen.
- ♪ Baa, baa, black sheep ♪ Have you any wool (picking out of tune) The thing that we've built here in Lordstown is, is not just a home.
It's, it's what's helping us help our daughter reach the best quality of life that we can possibly reach for her.
So that's what it is.
(laughs) Sit here with Mom!
She's the best wife I could have ever dreamt of asking for.
I mean, even after 15 years, man, I'm serious.
We're closer now than we've ever been.
My husband and I have talked, and we've talked about him going.
(sniffles): And me staying.
But, um...
I don't know.
(sighs) I'm, I'm having a hard time making that decision.
(sniffles) Because... Abby, that was just sitting here with me, is Daddy's girl.
(chuckling, kissing) If this plant was closing because it was unproductive, or losing money daily, or, you know, bleeding the company dry, that would be different.
But this plant is not closing for them reasons.
It's not, it's not brain surgery.
They have to know what they're doing to families.
Do I think they care?
No.
♪ RICK: I feel for her.
I feel for what her future and the quality of her life is going to be like.
♪ TOM: Last day, last day of work for the Cruze.
I just don't know what to do.
If I stay, I'm nervous that I'll get forced somewhere that I really, really, absolutely don't want to be.
It's just too far away, it's not financially feasible, but I'm afraid if I leave, and then they end up bringing something back to the plant, I won't be able to come back.
It's just a big gamble.
There's been times that we've built out in here before, where we've seen the last car, but not like this, not like it was the last car ever.
They've become so close, just seeing them more than you see your own family, seeing them every day, and then all of a sudden, that's it.
We never see them again.
(car door closes) MAN: Today is the end of production here, after 53 years.
Are you the guy who stands out here everyday?
- Yeah, I'm the vigil guy.
- Hi.
GREEN: When they put their tools down for the last time, it's very frustrating and scary and nervous for them.
(car horns honking enthusiastically) There's those people drove by on their way home and saw them standing out here, that gave all of them a little bit of hope.
(clapping and cheering) With that spirit, with that power, we can turn what looks like an American tragedy into an American triumph!
We're at a threshold now where the corporate greed that we have been witnessing has to end.
Thank you all, God bless you all.
(clapping and calling) WOMAN: Originally from New Jersey, New Jersey shut down.
I went to Delaware, Delaware shut down.
And I came here.
I don't have no one here.
No one, just me.
I got to get on out of here now-- now.
That's it, just rough.
(enthusiastic honking) Billy!
(cheering) Yeah, it was sad.
- That's, like, the reaction... - Yeah, it was... That's it, they're gone.
Might never be in there again.
(indistinct chatter) (chatter continues, cheering) - U.A.W., U.A.W.!
(crowd chanting "U.A.W.")
(cheering) GREEN (in distance): No matter what happens, you've got a family here with your union.
Baby steps.
- Yes.
It'll get there.
(chuckles) (horns honking) REPORTER: The president tweeting out, "Because the economy is so good, General Motors must get their Lordstown plant open, fast!"
David Green, president of United Automobile Workers 1112... ...play you a soundbite from the president in Ohio a couple of weeks ago, not far from your location now-- take a listen.
DONALD TRUMP: I was looking at some of those big, once-incredible, job-producing factories.
I said, "Those jobs have left Ohio."
They're all coming back.
They're all coming back.
(crowd cheering) Don't move-- don't sell your house.
Don't sell your house.
The president's tweet.
Is it enough?
- No, I mean, I don't think it has been enough, and I don't know that it will be.
REPORTER: Which prompted a tweet from the president mentioning Dave Green by name, telling him to get his act together and produce, stop complaining, and get the job done.
GREEN: Yeah, no, my phone's just been (bleep) off the hook, so I'm trying to just return calls, start reading the text messages, and I understood that the president sent out a tweet, and I, so I read it, and here we are.
I mean, I didn't really attack him.
I just, they asked me if I-- you know, he tweeted out about it, "Is that enough?"
And I said, "No, that's not, a tweet isn't going to get things done."
ALBERT SUMELL: Statistically, in this area, we are in no way better than we were before the Trump tax cut.
The number of jobs, particularly in manufacturing, has declined by almost 20%.
It just has increased corporate's, corporations' bottom lines.
I've seen companies, I've seen GM and every other, many other large companies lobby Congress to make it easier for them to go overseas, to get a tax break, to fix it to change a trade policy.
So what we've had with NAFTA and what we've had with PNTR with China and what we've had with the Trump tax law, all those things conspire to make corporations want to move overseas.
The removal of the second shift was the same exact day that they announced the production of the Chevy Blazer in Mexico.
REPORTER: General Motors is bringing back its iconic Chevy Blazer.
REPORTER: And here's the kicker: it will not be built in the U.S.
It will be built in Mexico.
And according to one union official, that announcement did not sit well today on the floor during the second shift, especially for some of those workers that are going to be laid off after tonight.
What does this family do?
If you're three years away from retirement, do you, you, as the wife, just go off and do this job while the husband and the kids stay?
These are terribly hard decisions and they always damage families.
I think there's a bigger issue in this whole conversation.
It's not right versus left.
And that's one of the other divisional tactics that we always use, conservative versus liberal.
People love these labels.
But I think at the end of the day, it's a heart problem.
And I think we need to care about people a lot more in this country, instead of building walls and dividing people based upon race, party, whatever your political persuasion is, whether you're conservative or liberal.
We need to talk about people and get back to that.
It's not about Trump or politics, because if politics did this, it's been 30 years in the making, you know?
Or more.
The decline of American manufacturing started in the '80s.
(exploding) The '90s, the 2000s.
And there was Democrats and Republicans in office, it doesn't matter.
There has to be some legislation that stops these companies.
If you're going to sell it here, you need to somewhere build it here.
GREEN: I don't think the corporation, the people at the top understand what they're doing to people, and how this is going to be a long-lasting effect.
(cars passing) FRANKLIN: It's one thing to know that they're going to idle soon, but when you actually see those folks leave, and those hard-working families leaving their community, it's pretty tough.
(birds chirping) TIFFANY: We haven't heard much, so everything is pretty much the same.
We don't, we don't know anything.
We are waiting to hear about the contract, but we're also planning for the worst.
We're a little nervous about finances, and we're just trying to get ahead of it to make sure that we're, you know, in a good situation.
So when the house sells, we're going to move here with my mother-in-law.
(door creaking open) Look, speaking of mother-in-law!
Met my husband back in high school.
We were high school sweethearts.
It just so happens, we met up one night at a party, and the rest is history.
Tom had so many friends at GM that he was Big Tom, and my son was called Little T. He retired right when Brian was born.
- Aw.
- Hi, Brian!
(phone camera clicks) - He said, "Nobody was going to watch my grandson but me."
We were there when both of the kids were born, and, you know, it meant the world to us.
♪ I mean, there's no good time for an illness, but, you know, with him retiring, and with me getting ready to retire, hopefully, soon, that, you know, we had our plans, that we were gonna buy a larger diesel pusher motorhome and take off and see the country.
We'd take the kids with us, you know?
But that just didn't happen.
- Hello!
- You smell that?
(indistinct chatter) - Good!
This is my daughter Tiffany, she's a teacher in Lordstown.
I'm Tiffany's mom.
I'm Tiffany's stepdad.
What are they going to do?
- Yeah, Tom, Tom's... - I mean, do you wait it out, hoping they reopen the plant?
- Hoping that they reopen it... - Or do you move?
They're concerned.
I mean, for being ten and five, those kids are pretty smart.
And they know what's going on, you know, and I want to say they're excited in some ways, because there's talk of them moving in with me, but I know they don't wanna move away.
Were you telling him about upstairs?
- Yeah.
- You want to see it?
- A lot of steps.
- This is a nice big room.
- Yeah, this isn't bad.
- This, this is where you'd stay?
- So what's this over here?
- We figure we'll have, like, living room, and, like, kinda...
This used to be Tom's bedroom over here.
- Good size.
But if we do sell it now, we're gonna get less than we should because of the situation.
But then if we don't sell it, and then he gets transferred, then we're gonna get stuck.
What do we do?
You know, you love your home, you love the features, and it's a certain way, but I want to help you... - Sell it.
- You know, make it as desirable for, for the masses.
How are you?
Oh, my gosh!
- I thought you were with Brian.
- You have so many special things.
Nice big closet here.
- It is big, yeah.
- Oh, yeah.
- Lots of stuff.
- Yeah, it's a walk-in.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Lucky girl for all that stuff you have, huh?
Brian, we're coming up.
- This is your lair.
Hi, I recognize you from your... - Nana and Papa's?
BRIAN: Yeah.
- Thanks for showing us your space.
We're going to get interest that first two weeks.
The schools being what they are.
- Right.
- The high-ranking schools.
- Yeah.
- The sense of community.
- Talking me into staying in my house.
(laughs) - Oh, oh.
No, you can stay, might stay in the area, but you don't know what you're doing.
- Right, well, we hope to stay in the area, but you're right.
- But that's the adventure.
TOM: Is two weeks all right for you?
You want to sell it?
- I, I want it...
I, I... - 'Cause I mean, I gotta... - Everyone else at GM is thinking the same thing we are, and they're all in limbo, and their houses are gonna go on the market, too.
We're all, we're all trying to beat each other to the punch.
We bought it when we were 21 and 23, and I was so freaking proud of that.
I was a kid and I bought a house.
When I grew up, we had a tiny two-bedroom house, four kids, two grown-ups, and so this room always just reminds me that I have room to breathe.
It was hard.
That was a hard life.
So, this is just...
It's just special.
If you have a room that you don't really need, I guess that's space.
I mean, I think maybe that's why I'm so afraid to let go of my home.
♪ I don't know what I'll be able to get again.
I don't know if we'll be able to buy a house again.
(door closing) (birds twittering) TIFFANY: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11.
We've shown the house 11 times.
We've gotten pretty good feedback.
- Yeah.
- So far.
It just hasn't necessarily met the specific criteria that people have wanted.
Maybe it was a little too small, or a little too big.
Someone said they didn't like the yard.
I'm not sure what they didn't like, but... - They didn't like the layout, certain, different things like that.
- I mean, it's just... You know, a house is a big purchase and it has to be extra-special.
It has to be perfect.
We're just, we're still in holding.
We're still waiting.
When you get outside, please open that umbrella.
(voiceover): Today we're going to Lordstown High School for an event with Bernie Sanders.
Thank you.
(voiceover): It's more than just this small-town problem.
It's a huge problem in the entire valley, but in other places, too, because we're not the only plant that's been impacted.
One, two, three.
For sale, for sale, for sale.
There's another one up here on your right.
I mean, right around the time that the plant idled, it was probably five or six within two weeks.
There's another one there, there's another one back there.
(crowd chanting in distance) Is this for real?
- Whoo!
- Come on!
- (chanting): We are unstoppable!
Another world is possible!
We are unstoppable!
Another world is possible!
- Go to Russia and find out.
It's when the government-- government controls everything.
- Oh, like capitalism, you mean?
- He admits he's a communist!
(indistinct shouting) (crowd noise) (cameras clicking) (cheers and applause) (cheers continue) CROWD (chanting): Bernie!
Bernie!
WOMAN: Charles Khan is the organizing director at the Strong Economy for All Coalition.
KHAN: We worked with the A.F.T.
to put together this report about what's happening in Lordstown and what happened to GM.
In total, GM's financial documents show they approved $25 billion in stock buybacks and dividends in the past four years.
It didn't go to wages.
It didn't go to plant modernization.
It didn't go to research.
It didn't go to development.
It only went to shareholders.
And this was the real story of what's happening to GM and what's happening to our economy.
Profitable corporations, we are sick and tired of you shutting down plants in this country and destroying families and moving our jobs overseas just to make even more excessive profits.
(cheers and applause) I want you to know that what you are struggling with here is not just applicable to Lordstown.
This has taken place all over the country.
And your willingness to stand up and fight back is an inspiration to millions of people in the same boat.
Thank you very much.
(cheers and applause) ♪ BARRA: I'm really excited that 1,500 have already volunteered for new opportunities.
700 are already on their way.
Sometimes it's up the road or down the highway, and some are a little bit longer move.
(phone dialing out on speaker, television playing) (man answers phone) GREEN: Hey, what's up, buddy?
MAN: Oh, confusion.
(chuckles) - Yep, more questions than answers.
Today's been a little, a little, a little bit too-- a little bit busy today.
They're pushing people out of here quickly.
Everybody's stressed out right now.
I've been trying to tell the members just to give their ear.
If somebody wants to scream at you, let them scream.
I'm already, like, split apart from my whole family.
That's why-- I'm already running around anyway, you know?
From when I lived in, when I worked in Columbus... - Okay.
- I've worked at two plants there and they closed.
I don't want it to be too far away from my kids.
WOMAN: I got my letter for Wentzville, which is fine.
But on their website, they're saying they're gonna lay off 900 people at the end of summer.
(voices overlapping) BROWN: Hey, Dave Green, how are you?
- Hey, I'm good, Senator, and yourself?
- Good, so what do you think?
GREEN: I think they want everybody out of Lordstown before they're sitting at the bargaining table.
That's just me.
- Yeah.
- They might not get them all, but I bet they get most of them.
- Yeah, they said we're gonna, they're trying to get Lordstown people out by July 15.
- I wouldn't doubt it.
- Yeah.
- I wouldn't-- that's when the negotiations start.
(engine idling) (indistinct chatter) TOM: I'm constantly wondering if I made the right decision.
If I shouldn't have just put in for somewhere when they announced this, 'cause it's inevitable.
I mean, I don't know if it's inevitable.
I don't know what's gonna happen, so...
It's tricky, it's, it messes with your head.
- Anybody wanna buy the house?
Anybody put more bids in?
- No.
TIFFANY: Since the plant idled, we have a lot more worry.
Tom has been getting the kids off to school and trying to take care of the house during the day.
TOM: Playing, like, Mr.
Mom, almost.
AUBREY: There are all my words.
- What's that over there?
- What?
TIFFANY: I'm really worried about him getting depressed.
I'm worried about him going down that rabbit hole.
TOM: It'd be nice to have an answer.
Nice to know what's going on.
TIFFANY: He doesn't talk that much about how hard it is for him, when I know that it is.
I see him changing a lot.
AUBREY: Nest.
TIFFANY: Big girl.
What kind of bird is that?
(voiceover): And he's even said, "I'm worrying that "I'm not providing for my family.
I'm worrying that maybe I'm not doing good enough."
Wait, are you guys still out on the 24th?
(sighs, Tom laughs) BRIAN: And it's a half-day.
(Tiffany groans) AUBREY: Wait, what's on the 24th?
TIFFANY: That's your last day of school.
- So I have until the 24th to... TIFFANY: Relax?
- No, to... TIFFANY: Sleep?
- No, to just have... TIFFANY: Zen.
- Have quiet around here.
(door closes) (knocks softly) Hey.
- Hey, Tom.
Hanging in there?
- Yeah.
- Good seeing you.
- So it looks like I'm pretty close to getting forced to Wentzville.
- What's your seniority?
- 10/10/01.
- 10/10/01... You're only, like, 11 away.
- 11?
- So... yeah.
♪ 'Cause I don't wanna go all the way down there.
That's nine hours away.
- We don't really know who, when, or why, until they come out, but there's a...
I mean, you're gonna get a letter, right?
- Okay.
- I don't know if you wanna put in for something to try and avoid that forced letter.
I really hope you get something that's... (sighs): Something that you want, bro.
- Well, thank you, I appreciate it for looking it up.
- You're welcome, bro.
- All right.
TIFFANY: Do you wanna tell us what you're thinking about, or, like, what your worries are, or...?
(voiceover): He carries so much guilt about all of this, too.
And he constantly is, "I can't believe I have to do this to you."
I promise you we'll see your friends even if we have to move.
I know how hard it will be on her without, or having to do everything.
And that'll, that'll bother me just as much.
♪ I'm getting phone calls from Andy and Sean.
I don't know if something happened.
- Why don't you go check it, then?
MAN (over phone): Lordstown is selling the plant.
Sold the plant to some electric car, electric truck company.
TOM: Are you serious?
It's on WKBN News, General Motors sold the plant.
Some electric truck company.
- What?
- Yeah.
REPORTER (on TV): The president making the announcement that General Motors is planning on selling their Lordstown assembly plant.
REPORTER: This is a start-up company working to build electric pickup trucks.
President Trump's tweets, they were unexpected, and they immediately crashed Workhorse's website and sent people scrambling.
REPORTER: It starts off reading in all capital letters, "Great news for Ohio!"
But not everyone is celebrating just yet.
REPORTER: After President Trump's announcement, the Workhorse penny stock surged by more than 50% and crashed the company's website.
TOM: This company buying this plant?
They're not GM.
None of us will be working there.
They won't even be U.A.W.
1112.
1112 will be gone.
MAN (over phone): You said it's too early to tell.
I assume, then, that goes for... (sighs): What may happen to some of your union members.
Those details, is it too early to tell anything like that?
MAN: That tweet came out, I mean... GREEN: Did your phone blow up?
- Oh, my God.
- Did your phone blow up?
'Cause mine blew up, and it went dead.
- I knew nothing.
I knew nothing until the tweet came out.
MAN (over phone): Hey, Dave.
- Hey, what's up?
- This is a (bleep) dumb deal, man.
And this is a company that is unproven, and has had tremendous financial problems.
You know, if I get calls from media saying, "What's up?
", I'll try to-- we'll just try to appease them, so that we keep those good relationships with them.
- Thank you again for doing this.
You know, we're all spread out, and this happens, and they go, "Get up, get up here."
We're almost... - You need that, buddy?
Huh, huh?
I've done this before.
(laughs) - It sounds like you've had a few of these.
A tweet from our president, and then you're, you're reacting.
- I think it's ridiculous.
I think it undermines the media.
And I just, I think it adds levels to stress throughout our entire country that his tweets have become what they've become.
We haven't known what to do since November 26.
Regardless of my personal situation, which is probably gonna be traveling to another part of the country.
It's frustrating.
I think, for me, it's been extremely frustrating, because this is my home.
I love this community.
I don't wanna have too much hope yet, because I just don't really have any information.
I am anticipating an involuntary offer.
I have two daughters on my healthcare.
I got to go, I have to go.
(turn signal clicking) KING: You know, there were people who got scared and claimed to see the writing on the wall, and they wanted to get ahead of things.
So they, you know, put in for transfers, so, you know, in that way, they had more control over, if this is going to happen, that they will be able to control their situation a little bit and decide where they would wanna go on their terms.
I think it was a scare tactic to get more people to move, but I don't know.
Yeah, I guess we'll see.
(engine starting) Hello, hello.
- How are you, sweetie?
- Good, how are you?
- You have some more for us.
- Yes, I do.
I'm thinking I'm gonna be maybe a standard order for those.
- (laughs): Probably... - Thank you.
Thank you so much, appreciate you.
- Very good.
- Thank you.
Have a good day.
Okay.
Let them know I'm here.
Oh!
(laughs) Hi!
WOMAN: How are you?
- Good, how are you?
- Good to see you.
- Good to see you, too.
- Those cheesecakes were so awesome.
Thank you.
- Thank you!
- What'd you get, nine?
- Yeah.
- Wonderful.
MAN: I think you were, last time you brought them... - Uh-huh?
- It was delicious, so I had to order one.
- Thank you so much.
I really appreciate what these people are doing for me.
You have no idea.
First gen.
I was on the watch team for that.
I always beam with pride when I see one.
(turn signal clicking) Hold on.
(murmurs) I didn't know what was gonna happen with my business once I clocked out for the last time.
I was, I was anxious.
And I've been gaining a lot of customers, and a lot of customers are outside of the four walls of Lordstown.
After long thought, I've decided that I'm gonna stay put.
I have not received a forced letter yet, but I know it will be coming soon.
Unfortunately, when I make that decision, I'm going to lose my benefits-- it's a risk, it's a gamble, but my heart and my gut is telling me to stay here and do what I love.
And I'm gonna follow, follow my dream and do what I love.
TIFFANY'S MOTHER: I don't know where the lid for this one went.
TIFFANY: Oh, just leave it like that, it's fine.
Tom will end up eating it.
(chuckles) There was a notice put out-- where was that union notice put out?
TOM: Tennessee.
- In Tennessee, that said 61 people are needed in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
We're, like, "Okay, well, that's better "than a lot of these other places.
Can he possibly go there?"
So he put in to transfer there, and then we heard, you know, Monday, probably... - Mm-hmm.
- He'll get notice.
Hey!
Did you just stick your fingers in the cake?
AUBREY: No.
(Tiffany laughs) I see that.
Today we're celebrating Brian and Aubrey's birthday.
They were born just a little less than a week apart, so we're celebrating together.
Whoa.
(gasps): Let's see it!
WOMAN: Let's see what we have in there.
TIFFANY: Oh, that is awesome!
WOMAN: Yeah!
AUBREY: You look good in sprinkles.
TIFFANY: I look good in sprinkles?
Why, thank you.
TOM: We might go down there next weekend.
- Kentucky?
- Mm-hmm.
(indistinct chatter) - Would you buy or would you rent?
- Buy, eventually.
TIFFANY: Are you gonna have, like, one that's like a small cup?
- Yeah.
- That penguin's a good small one, or... - Yeah, this one'll work.
- This one, too.
- Oh, yeah, yeah.
TOM: There's one place we were looking at... - Did she talk-- is she, she going with you, or is she staying here?
- I don't know.
She might stay here for a little while.
- It's kind of what it-- she made it sound to me.
TIFFANY: Cake?
TOM: Sure.
TIFFANY: You guys ready for cake?
ALL: ♪ Happy birthday to you (cheers) WOMAN: That was a lot of candles.
TOM: This is from my mom or Jess?
TIFFANY: Both-- do you have the next person?
What does Alex want?
- What?
- Can I open?
- Okay.
- Go ahead and open it?
"Thomas Davis III, (bleep) East Second Street.
"Our records indicate that you have filed an extended area "hire application for the GM location listed below.
"Bowling Green Assembly, Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Report date, July 15, 2019, at 6:00 a.m." Well, there you go.
- I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing.
- We're Kentuckians.
(laughs) Oh... (voice breaking): I can't see a positive in me losing my job.
- I know that.
- Having to move away.
You're moving to your people, and you're moving to a situation that you know.
At least you have some of your people there.
And I know it's a new plant, but you have your job.
I have to go start everything over again.
- Mm-hmm.
- I don't have a friend there.
I don't have a job there.
I have to start the kids over again.
It's so much unknown for me.
- I know.
- I'm so sick of not knowing anything.
I'm so sick of, like, the push and pull, and the anxiety.
But at the same time, I have even more questions now.
Since they're selling it to somewhere, to a place that doesn't have a lot of money, and, like, people are saying, "Who are these people?
", this and that, GM is still gonna have their hands in it.
They're gonna be the silent partner.
They're, it's-- this is their cheapest route to get the technology to produce electric trucks.
And they're gonna have people making $15 an hour so they can cut out the U.A.W.
completely.
They did this up in Michigan, with their material departments.
They called them General Motors subsidiary systems.
- Mm-hmm.
- And what they did was, they turned around and they hired temporary workers that didn't work there anymore.
And they hired people that retired that didn't work there anymore.
And they hired them at 15 bucks an hour.
They have not negotiated yet.
Don't you feel like there is some possibility?
- No, because what they announced yesterday at the union hall, with all these dates of people going to Bowling Green, and Bowling Green already coming out two months ago, saying that they needed 400 people for another shift, there's not gonna be anyone here.
- Okay, there's no one here, but if they keep the plant open, then you would have the possibility to transfer back.
- The only way they would... - Right?
- The only way they would have negotiations about this is if another plant, if they said, "Look, we need these other plants to sign on to strike for Lordstown, to save Lordstown."
These other plants are gonna say, "I'm working six, seven days a week right now.
"Why am I gonna go on strike for a plant "that doesn't have anybody at it?
"They already have jobs elsewhere.
The place is sitting there empty."
Yeah, I understand that... - So, you see how it looks.
- I understand... - Do you see what they did?
They set it up so that it looks perfect.
(voice breaking): "Look what we did, everybody is in a place and everyone has...", but it's not that way.
- They paid people to put this in place probably three or four years ago.
At the pace they've been sending out offers-- voluntary, involuntary offers-- I think they want everyone out of Lordstown.
My goal now is to just try to make sure our members aren't too stressed out.
(knocks softly) GREEN: Hey, Rick, how you doing, bro?
- How you doing, brother?
You got a minute?
- Yeah, come on in.
How's your family?
- You know, my daughter's got cerebral palsy, so moving her from state to state's gonna be a logistical nightmare, no matter what.
The only benefit I have is getting to my 30 years.
Get the best services I can for her.
- And that's why I know I gotta go, right?
- Right.
- My daughter's going away to college.
I gotta provide for her.
They're off on their own adventures.
If I gotta fly away for five years, then I can do that.
I can leave here... RICK: But that's still your job as a man, as a father.
- I have to provide for my kids.
- Absolutely.
Do your best you can.
(turn signal clicking) One of the last of the last who are gonna be enjoying this middle-class lifestyle.
For me, it's about my kids, right?
I wanna make sure that their education and schooling can get them into a field where they can provide for themselves.
If you have kids, you understand.
RICK: Absolutely.
- That you have to do what's right for your children.
- Hey.
- All right, brother.
- Thank you for everything.
- Yeah, God bless you, bro.
If I can do five more years, I can get a check every month and have post-retirement healthcare.
Like, who wouldn't?
Who could walk away from that?
I can't.
(car doors close) TOM: In Kentucky, you know, they're adding a second shift on, but they've never had two shifts there before.
WOMAN: Right.
- So if they cut it a year after I'm there, I possibly could get laid off again.
- It's a raw deal.
I would just take it for the hospitalization.
And it's too much to throw away.
TOM: I might be able to get a job around here for, you know, 20 bucks an hour somewhere, but... - You won't have the benefits.
TIFFANY: No.
TOM: Or if you do have benefits, you're paying hundreds of dollars a month, and it's a hundred bucks every time you wanna go to the emergency room.
- And we have little ones.
TOM: Yeah!
TIFFANY: Yeah.
WOMAN: Good luck.
TIFFANY: Over the weekend, we went to Kentucky to check out the area, since that's where Tom's being transferred.
We looked at some houses, we drove past the plant.
We weren't able to get inside, but we were there to check out the area.
In we go.
(kids chatting) Go ahead.
Tomorrow's our last day of school, so we traditionally have a big celebration the day before the last day called Fun Day.
I made you some chocolate fudge cupcakes.
(kids reacting) I'm a little afraid I won't be able to return next year.
So that's weighing heavy on me today.
After healthy snack, we'll go to cup stacking in the music room.
♪ TOM: If we sold the house tomorrow, she quit her job, moved down there, we could go a year.
She's nervous about us going on strike.
- I'm just gonna be honest.
I don't want to just survive.
I want to thrive.
- Yeah.
- Growing up, there were times we didn't have food.
Food pantry is how we would eat, you know?
The church would donate Christmas gifts to my family so that we could have somewhat of a normal childhood.
Eventually, my mom went to nursing school.
Things improved a bit, but there were times we didn't have water, or electric, or a phone.
And... - And we don't wanna do that.
- I'm not doing that to my kids.
♪ TOM'S MOTHER: I mean, the way it looks, that, you know, he's gonna be moving here shortly to Kentucky, it's heartbreaking.
BRIAN: We'll go to his house and there'll be, there'll be, like, eight tubs of ice cream in the freezer.
We're all worried about him being alone down there.
And I'm sure he'll have some friends and things like that, but his family's here, and that's where he wants to be, too.
TIFFANY: Yes, Aubrey-- you've been waiting so long.
You're so patient, I'm so sorry, honey.
- You can do what all kids do.
Jump on the bed.
(Tiffany gasps) That's the best idea-- jumping on the bed.
Tom helps a lot.
- Tom helps a lot.
- Tom helps a lot.
- He's very, very involved.
- He's not a sideline father.
BRIAN: He could get huge pillows, huge ones.
We could build him an adult-sized pillow fort.
TOM: They are such kids.
TIFFANY: I know.
"Can you watch the kids for me while I go do something?"
My mom would ask my dad.
That never enters Tom's thought process.
It's not like they're her kids.
They're their kids.
TOM: Just packing the boxes, mainly.
Just getting the stuff in order.
Tiffany being a schoolteacher, she's very organized.
TIFFANY: We don't have much room to work with.
TOM: Okay, just take your time.
TIFFANY: Even getting him ready to go, it's, like, the weirdest, most awkward, strange break-up ever, where you still love the person, but you're kicking him out and making him move away.
(television in background) TOM'S MOTHER: Brian understands what's going on.
And he's a lot smarter than people give him credit for.
You know, he might be just a little kid, but he takes in everything he hears, trust me.
(chuckles) It's like a rollercoaster, it's just... We're here, oh, we're get-- we might get a product-- nope.
We're here, wait-- no.
We spend time together, we talk, we do stuff together.
(voice trembling): We light off fireworks in the front yard on the Fourth of July.
(fireworks exploding) TOM (laughs): Whoo!
(fireworks popping and whistling) BRIAN: That was patriotic.
(Tom laughs) We have cookouts, we... We watch TV, screw around with the cat.
We play the drums on the kitchen counter together.
Cook together, I mean we spent time... We spend time together, it's not, like, how it's gonna be with him living 400 miles away from us.
I mean, whenever I'm sitting on the couch and Tiffany's not sitting with me, Aubrey's usually laying against me.
So, yeah, I think, I think it's gonna be hard on her.
I mean, she's my little girl.
Even Brian asked a couple of days ago, "Could I possibly live with Dad?"
And it's something we hadn't even considered.
And I thought, "Oh, my gosh, I can't live without him."
(voice breaking): And then I started to understand how Tom must feel, being without them.
She's definitely my better half, like people always say.
But she definitely is.
Yeah, she's just, she's the best thing in my life.
And I don't wanna be without her.
Just knowing that, you know, something goes wrong, if I need somebody to talk to, that he's here and could be here in two minutes, you know?
Or him just coming in to check on me, you know?
He surprises me more than, you know, not, doing that.
I might be having a good night where I've watched a TV show and I fell asleep at 9:30, and at 10:00, he comes storming in the door, "What are you doing?
Why are you sleeping?
You okay?"
INTERVIEWER: If you could talk to Mary Barra, and tell her about her decision and how it's impacted you, what would you tell her?
That she's tearing my family apart.
♪ (fireworks booming) ♪ (fireworks exploding) (cheers and applause) TIFFANY: You think you're gonna wait until you get there to call me?
Is that a joke?
BRIAN: I'm gonna be on the phone with you the whole way there, I'm gonna have the phone plugged in... - This is how we're gonna live-- one of our phones will be in the house on speaker, and your phone will always be on speaker.
So we can just, like, talk to you like you're in the house.
We're just gonna pretend.
TOM'S MOTHER: Don't forget your mother.
She'll be texting you to talk... TOM'S MOTHER: Yeah, your pop-pop bought those years ago.
TOM: You okay?
AUBREY: Mm-hmm.
(sniffling) TOM: Why you so pretty?
TIFFANY (laughs): Stop... - Why you so beautiful, huh?
- You're a big dork.
- You are, you're so beautiful.
- Quit it.
- Why am I a big dork?
'Cause I tell you how much I love you?
- Stop it.
(laughs) ♪ AUBREY: Why can't you not leave?
TOM: Honey, I have to go, for work.
TIFFANY: I'm so sorry, honey.
AUBREY: But why do you have to work?
TOM: Can't live on love-- gotta make money.
TIFFANY: Daddy has to work because we need money to pay bills and buy food.
And Daddy makes more money than Mommy.
TOM: Sooner or later, you guys are gonna live wherever I'm at.
You're gonna finish this school year at Girard.
Then after that, you'll be wherever I am.
TIFFANY: I've put your lease in your box.
Do you have checks in there?
TOM: Yup.
- Phone charger?
- Yup.
- Your bi-pap?
- Already in the truck.
- Tennis shoes?
- Already in the truck.
- You're wearing your flip flops?
(Brian sneezing) Bless you-- are you done?
BRIAN: Thank you, yeah.
- (chuckles) Don't worry about mowing the grass.
I'll do that when I come home this weekend.
- Okay.
You gonna be okay?
TIFFANY: No.
- Why?
Can you please tell her, if she needs something, to call you and ask?
- I know that.
TOM'S MOTHER: Two minutes away.
- I know that.
TOM: She's always afraid that... - It's not about needing something.
That's not what is bothering me.
TOM'S MOTHER: Okay, furthest time I'd be away is nine minutes.
TOM: This is for...
This is for the Buick.
(keys drop on counter) Got a house key on it.
(Tiffany murmurs) BRIAN: If you lose your house key... - I don't need...
I have my mom's house key, and the truck key on here.
TIFFANY: Did you just say you don't need a house key?
That's like a joke.
BRIAN: Yeah, if you lose your house key... TOM: Is this one right here?
AUBREY: You're staying here.
BRIAN: Uh, let me see.
No, this is one to Nana's house, put this on there.
TIFFANY: Where are we going?
Where are we going?
Uh-oh, I see what's happening.
TOM: Tying me to Mama?
AUBREY: Mm-hmm.
TOM: Come on, let me up.
AUBREY: No.
TIFFANY: Where are we going?
AUBREY (giggles): Where Dad's going!
TOM: I gotta go.
AUBREY: No... TOM: I got a long drive.
AUBREY: No!
TOM: Trust me, honey, I don't wanna go, but I gotta go.
(voices overlapping) TIFFANY: Mom's gonna-- look, Mom's not gonna go anywhere.
♪ ♪ TIFFANY: Just for a little while, guys, okay?
Just for a little while.
(Tiffany whispers) TOM: Be good for everyone, okay?
- (voice breaking): I love you.
(murmuring) (softly): Where's Brian?
TOM: I don't know.
- Brian?
I know this was your worst fear.
It's the one thing from the beginning that you didn't want to do.
You didn't want me to be separated, but...
I gotta go.
'Cause if it isn't here, it would have been farther away.
I'm sorry, Buddy.
You know if I had any choice, I would not be doing this.
TIFFANY (softly): Thank you, sweetheart.
TOM: I love you.
All right.
(sobbing) (tearfully): Good luck on your first day.
I know you're nervous.
♪ Love you!
♪ KING: When they made the announcement that General Motors and LG Chem was doing a joint venture, and they were gonna break ground in the back yard, we were, like, "Huh?"
Why would you do it there?
You could build anywhere, but you build it in the backyard of your former plant?
Coincidence?
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
