Sends Letter to GM CEO Urging Factory to Be Retooled to Produce New Line

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, US Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) secured a commitment from Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to take steps to provide job training and transitional assistance for workers at the General Motors plant in Janesville, which is scheduled to close down by 2010.  In addition, Senator Kohl urged General Motors to retool the plant to manufacture a different line in a letter sent with Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to GM CEO Richard Wagoner.

"With the announcement that General Motors plans to close this plant, thousands of skilled and dedicated workers face a stark future of employment and financial uncertainty," Kohl said. "Secretary Chao seems to understand the severity of the situation and assured me that the Labor Department would take immediate steps to retrain workers at the plant.  Only then can these employees learn new skills necessary to finding new jobs."

Specifically, Secretary Chao told Senator Kohl that the Department of Labor will mobilize its rapid response team to provide initial job training for employees, provided that General Motors management allows it.  Labor Department officials in Wisconsin would be contacted to begin the process of applying for a federal emergency grant that would provide training and job counseling services for the GM workers.  Senator Kohl also spoke with the Janesville GM plant manager Gary Malkus, stressing the need for management to permit job retraining for current employees so they can find work immediately after or before the facility closes in two years. 

Senator Kohl also spoke with United Auto Workers representative Brad Dutcher about the possibility of the plant being re-tooled to produce a different vehicle so it can stay open.  In a letter to GM CEO Richard Wagoner, Senator Kohl joined Senator Feingold and Rep. Ryan requesting a meeting to discuss this possibility to ensure the plant's continuation of operations.

"The people at the Janesville GM plant are second to none, and I hope that GM supports these employees with the same loyalty and commitment that these men and women have brought to the job everyday," Kohl added.

# # #