Prayer rally held for GM leadership which 'has lost its way'

Union leaders are happy about the 2020 Hamtramck Detroit plant extension but are fighting to keep other plants open.

The United Auto Workers holding a prayer rally for hundreds of workers at this Warren Powertrain Plant.

"I want to pray for the leadership of General Motors because they've gone astray," said Rep. Andy Levin (D-Michigan).

Politicians like Levin are calling on the automotive company to be transparent about why it wants to idle several plants in North America including the Warren Powertrain Plant where transmissions are made.

"What I am calling on them to do, is admit the facts," Levin said. "They don't have over-capacity. They make our cars in Mexico and expect us to buy them. There's only reason why these cars are built in Mexico - corporate greed.

"From 2011 to today, General Motors has doubled its production of vehicles in Mexico." 

So prayers were offered on behalf of the nearly 300 workers employed at this plant in hopes that GM will keep plants in the U-S open and not send jobs elsewhere.

The Warren Powertrain Plant is set to idle August 1st.

But many say they remain hopeful after GM announced Friday that it was extending production at its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant into January of 2020 - seven months longer than initially announced 

"We need a blessing we need product brought back to our facility to keep our people working," said Ghana Goodwin Dye, UAW Local 909 president. 

Congressman Levin is asking for GM to do more than keep production going at these plants.

"We are working to make sure any new trade agreement has strong, robust protections for workers in the US and the environment," Levin said. 

In statement to Fox 2 GM had this to say about Friday's prayer rally 

"We respect everyone's right to come together and express their points of view. Our focus remains on the employees and the impacted communities. We have job opportunities for virtually every hourly employee at the impacted plants - anyone who wants a job will have a job."

"They should be paying UAW workers a living wage here in the United States to make vehicles they want us to buy," Levin said.