LORAIN, Ohio - Ohio officials such as Congressman Tim Ryan, Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill, Senator Sherrod Brown and more will be speaking at the Marine Highway National Security Ohio Jobs Rally at the Black River Landing in Lorain.

The rally is hosted by the AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department and Ohio State Building & Construction Trades Council, and will take place Monday, May 2 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

In January of 2022, it was reported that a new Navy maintenance facility was possibly on its way to Lordstown, with Ohio being chosen as the site due to the state's industrial revenue bond program.

Throughout the past decade, the nation's four Naval Shipyards have been unable to complete the required maintenance on the U.S. Navy's aircraft carriers and submarines, with an average of more than 0.6 aircraft carriers and more than 3.4 submarines unexpectedly sidelined in delayed maintenance.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and other third-party entities like the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Navy itself and the Heritage Foundation have extensively documented this current maintenance crisis.

Additionally, the nation's shipbuilders have been challenged to meet ship construction schedules. That's why in December of 2021, President Biden applied the Defense Production Act to the Navy's Virginia Class submarine program.

In response to this, Bartlett Maritime Corporation developed the Bartlett Maritime Plan to add the required capacity to the nuclear-powered ship construction and maintenance industrial base. 

The plan is endorsed by the AFL-CIO Maritime and Metal Trades Department and the Seafarers International Union. 

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