LORDSTOWN, Ohio - A regional United Auto Workers director is attributing recent mass layoffs at the Ultium Cells battery plant in Lordstown to the Republican-led repeal of electric vehicle tax credits, marking a sharp pivot in the union’s relationship with the current administration.

In a commentary published in the Ohio Capitol Journal on Wednesday, UAW Region 2B Director David Green criticized the "One Big Beautiful Bill," the federal budget legislation signed into law last summer. Green argued that the bill's elimination of federal incentives has devastated the Mahoning Valley’s economic recovery and thrown the domestic auto industry into instability.

The criticism follows an announcement last month that the Ultium Cells facility in Lordstown would cut 550 jobs and temporarily lay off another 850 workers. The plant, a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution, manufactures battery cells for electric vehicles.

Green, a former president of UAW Local 1112 in Lordstown, drew a direct line between the job losses and the expiration of the 30D electric vehicle tax credits and 45X subsidies. These incentives, which were part of the previous administration's industrial policy, ended Sept. 30 under provisions of the new budget law.

"We believed then, and continue to believe now, that our members are the backbone of our communities, our states, and our nation," Green wrote. "But for companies like Ultium, the passage of the Republican budget bill ... makes it clear that Congressional Republicans are willing to lay waste to these goals."

The layoffs in Lordstown are part of a wider contraction within the electric vehicle sector. General Motors recently announced it would idle its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, known as Factory Zero, laying off approximately 1,200 workers as the plant moves to a single shift. Additionally, Ultium’s facility in Spring Hill, Tennessee, announced temporary layoffs affecting 700 employees.

According to Green, more than 410,000 workers currently hold jobs in facilities building clean vehicles or their components, with 240,000 of those positions specifically within the electric vehicle supply chain. He argued that while the union favored adding stronger labor protections to the tax credits to ensure public money supported union jobs, eliminating them has created market chaos.

The rollback of the credits was a key component of the "One Big Beautiful Bill," officially Public Law 119-21, which President Donald Trump signed on July 4, 2025. The legislation permanently extended the 2017 individual tax cuts. It introduced new deductions for overtime pay and tips, funded in part by repealing the green energy incentives estimated to save the federal government $190 billion over a decade.

Republicans have defended the repeal, characterizing the tax credits as a distortion of the free market. Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy described the layoffs as a failure of "central planning," arguing that Washington had forced the auto industry to chase "EV quotas the market didn't want."

"The fact this could've been avoided won't make it any easier on these workers, their families, or this community, but we can pursue a better way forward: let consumers — not mandates — decide what wins," Ramaswamy said.

Industry analysts have noted a correlation between the policy shift and consumer behavior. David Welch, an analyst with Bloomberg, stated that sales "really plummeted" once the tax credits expired, forcing manufacturers into "retrench mode."

The conflict over electric vehicle policy highlights a complex dynamic between the UAW and the Trump administration. In March 2025, UAW International President Shawn Fain praised the administration for imposing 25% tariffs on imported automobiles, calling the move "the beginning of the end of a thirty-plus year 'free trade' disaster." At the time, the union viewed the tariffs as a necessary step to protect domestic workers from foreign competition.

However, the removal of the tax credits appears to have fractured that alignment. Green contended that Ohio politicians, including U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, touted the budget bill’s tax cuts for the wealthy while ignoring the "steep cost for working people."

For the Mahoning Valley, the layoffs reopen old wounds. Green referenced the 2019 closure of the GM Lordstown Assembly plant, which produced the Chevrolet Cruze, noting that the community had rallied with a demand for GM to "invest in us."

"It is difficult to see the gains of these workers, and this community lost again," Green wrote. "This fight is not over. Our workers will continue to advocate for a system that invests in all of us."

21 News reached out to Sen. Husted's office for comment and received the following email attributed to a spokesperson:

Senator Husted supported the budget law because it’s tailored to help Ohio working families and job creators. It will boost manufacturing by enabling companies to fully expense investments in machinery, equipment, new factories, and research and development. Prior to serving in the Senate, Senator Husted’s primary responsibility was in economic and workforce development for Ohio. Under his leadership, Ohio experienced some of the most successful years of growth in the state’s history, which has provided more good-paying jobs that have given countless people the chance to live their version of the American dream. He continues this work in the Senate.