Jesse Jackson meets with GM employees after racial hate at Toledo plant

Calling the perpetrators of racist threats and graffiti “cowards,” the Rev. Jesse Jackson on Tuesday called for both General Motors and the United Auto Workers union to protect employees at the Toledo Transmission Plant.

Mr. Jackson met with GM employees and then hosted an afternoon news conference at the Truth Art Gallery on Adams Street. At the gallery, Mr. Jackson repeatedly called on the company to strategically place cameras and police officers in the plant to find out who is responsible for the racist acts.

“The people are saying they want protection. They are not getting it,” he said. “They want to find out the culprits and they are not getting that.”

His Toledo trip follows months of reports of harassment and threats at the Toledo GM plant on Alexis Road. Among the allegations, laid out in several lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court last year, were racial epithets and swastikas written on bathroom stalls, threats of violence, and repeated instances of nooses left in work areas or thrown at employees.

Read more: https://www.toledoblade.com/business/automotive/2019/01/22/jesse-jackson-meets-gm-employees-racial-harassment-threats-toledo-plant/stories/20190122100