Beers, nostalgia and worry in Michigan as historic GM plant closes
WARREN, Mich. — Line workers rolled into the Motor City Sports Bar & Grill after their shift ended, clinking Budweiser bottles, playing billiards and trying to talk above a loud mix of rap and country music.
Workers at the nearby GM transmission plant come to this restaurant for lunch, happy hour or to get an early start on the weekend. But this was no typical Friday. For many of the workers, it was their final day at the 78-year-old plant.
“It was a little somber. It was a little bittersweet when the last transmission rolled out,” said Jack Arnold, 49, who has worked on the assembly line for more than two decades.
“Getting a job at GM 23 years ago, for me, it was like winning the lottery,” he said. “I was trying to start a family. It kept my now ex-wife at home to raise the children. I was able to buy a house. We went to Disney World — all of that.”
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-07-27/democratic-debate-gm-factory-in-michigan-closes-workers-laid-off
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