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February 6, 2019
Gerald Johnson
Vice President North
America Manufacturing and Labor Relations
GM Global Technical Center
30745 Louis Chevrolet Road
PPO North, Floor 02
Warren, Michigan
48093-2350 USA
Dear Mr. Johnson,
I appreciate you proactively reaching out to schedule time
to meet with my Chief of Staff, Katy Crosby, and me to
discuss the situation at the Toledo General Motors
Powertrain plant. As discussed in our meeting, I share your
concern of the damage this does to the reputation of a
well-respected company. As the Mayor of Toledo, I am
concerned that the attention creates the wrong perception of
our community as well.
We want all who live, work, and visit Toledo to feel
welcomed, as I am sure you want the same for your
organization. It is refreshing to know that the new plant
leadership that arrived within the last year “pounds the
pavement” and makes an intentional effort to engage
employees. I am also pleased to learn of the immediate
actions taken to address the situation, which include:
• an immediate investigation into the situation.
• retraining human resources professionals and employees on
how to respond to allegations of discrimination and hate
incidents.
• ensuring employees are aware of the available resources
and mechanisms to report concerns to include anonymous
reporting.
• a bi-annual AGI workplace culture survey with a follow up
action plan to respond to results.
• engaging Crime Stoppers to provide a $25,000 reward.
As I shared during our meeting, the city of Toledo is no
stranger to incidents of hate and discrimination. In fact,
shortly after I became Mayor, I had to respond to an
incident with our employees. As a result, we administered a
citywide employee engagement survey to understand the
concerns of all 2,700 employees. With a 40% response rate
that well represented the diversity of our workforce, we
were able to capture the concerns of our employees, and we
are working diligently to address those concerns. This
includes hiring a well-respected chief diversity officer and
ensuring we are committing the necessary resources to ensure
a healthy workplace culture. We recognize employees who feel
valued and respected at work will provide better services to
our citizens.
GM has been one of our top employers and an economic driver
in our city for many years. We appreciate the contribution
you have made to our community. I believe we have a mutual
interest to use this as an opportunity to let your
employees, as well as, our residents and visitors, know that
we are committed to a diverse, inclusive and welcoming work
environment.
It is my hope that we can
support one another in this endeavor by sharing ongoing and
intentional efforts that support a “no tolerance” approach
toward discriminatory behavior. I look forward to hearing
from you and working with you to ensure Toledo is a great
place for GM, your employees, and our residents.
Sincerely,
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz
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