"It's devastating he's here:" GE Workers blame President Trump and Speaker Ryan for jobs moving to Canada

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On the day President Trump visits Waukesha, dozens of Waukesha GE employees are saying it was the President and Paul Ryan who failed them as they prepare to lose their jobs to Canada.

The GE Plant has been in Waukesha for over 100 years and with it being slated for closure, the President's visit gave hundreds of employees at the GE Plant a glimmer of hope that he would intervene and help save their jobs.

GE announced that they would close the plant before President Trump was elected but employees say that about 75% of them believed his promise that he would keep jobs in America and voted for him.

CBS 58 News spoke with one of the employees and a local union representative for the International Association of Machinists. That union represents about 220 of the plant's 300 workers.

He says with President Trump just a few miles down the street at WCTC, they're disappointed he didn't stop by.

"It's devastating that he's here, that we've reached to him and sent the letters and it not only affects my family but the 300 families that work here and the community as a whole," said Local Union President Scott Schmidt.

Schmidt tells us GE received 25 million dollars from the Province of Ontario to have the new facility built there and without presidential help, workers at the plant won't stand a fighting chance. Operations move to Canada by the end of the year.

Robert Martinez, Jr., International President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), issued the following statement on President Trump’s visit to Waukesha:

“The President is peddling job training to people who asked him to save their jobs.

“More than 300 Machinists Union members at General Electric’s gas engine manufacturing plant in Waukesha will see their jobs shipped out of the country by the end of the year. Shortly after the inauguration, we asked the President to intervene. We still haven’t heard back.

“The President should be in Waukesha to blast General Electric for putting corporate profit over American workers. Like too many politicians before him, the President is telling U.S. workers to retrain instead of keeping our jobs here in the first place—while proposing a budget that guts federal funding for job training.

“The fact that the President is taking advice from Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has done more to attack working people and their unions than any other governor, raises serious concerns. The President should be empowering working people, not praising politicians who strip them of their right to collectively bargain.”

“During his campaign, the President promised to fight for American workers. We have supported his pledges on trade and U.S. jobs. Now is the time for action, not empty promises.”

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