O’Hara steps down as UAW Local 1112 president

LORDSTOWN — With the resignation of United Auto Workers Local 1112 President Tim O'Hara, announced Tuesday, the role passes to Darwin Cooper, current vice president.

The shop, which had 1,600 local members before General Motors ended production of the Chevrolet Cruze and idled its 52-year-old Lordstown Assembly Complex in March 2019, dwindled to 500 by the following November, with many workers following GM transfers out of state or quitting, and now has fewer than 20, O'Hara said Tuesday.

"I'm assured the locals are going to be in good hands," O'Hara said of Cooper, who was the local shop's vice president beneath former president Jim Graham, who retired in 2012. "He has a lot of experience as far as everything that's happening at the local and how to conduct business."

Cooper could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

UAW Local 1112 was chartered in 1966 and is based out of Reuthers Scandy Alli Hall, a stone's throw from the plant, which was officially shuttered by the most recent UAW-GM labor pact ratified Oct. 25.

Though the local shop remains in good financial shape, with member dues revenues drying up, the union is now surviving off savings and the union hall is only open once a week — partially due to the pandemic and partially to save on utilities, O'Hara said.

At some point, the international union may decide to assume control of the hall or shut it down entirely, but for now it's awaiting distant work prospects proposed for the area: Lordstown Motors Corp., which expects to hire 400 line workers and has been open to a unionized workforce; and the Ultium Cells LLC electric vehicle battery plant, which broke ground in May and is expected to create 1,100 jobs.

"We want the Local 1112 to be around in some form to represent the workers there," O'Hara said. "Our goal is just to survive. And I know we could be looking at a year or two before there's any kind of a vote for workers there to join the union.

"We're trying to be [around], but there's no guarantee."

O'Hara, a GM retiree, held the top spot for a little more than a year following the departure of former president Dave Green, who led the local shop for a few months after GM Lordstown shut down. O'Hara's tenure was marked by one of the longest UAW strikes in 50 years, followed months later by the coronavirus pandemic, which also disrupted production work for many UAW members.

Many active GM workers — like O'Hara's wife — followed job offers to GM's Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Ky., where O'Hara now lives. Regular trips back to the Mahoning Valley became complicated by the pandemic, he said.

"I always knew my term would be limited, leading the local union from another state, and at some point I would be stepping down. That time has come," O'Hara wrote Tuesday morning in a Facebook post.

"It has been an immense honor and privilege to serve the greatest local in the UAW since I was first elected 20 years ago. … I wish I could have served in normal times but that wasn't the hand I was dealt."

The UAW Local 1112's remaining members work for Infinite Synergy LLC, an IT firm based in Canfield, and Mahoning County Job and Family Services, O'Hara said.

"My title has changed, but my commitment to the local union — that'll last until I pass away," he said. "I'll do whatever I can to help them in the future."

This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 3:52 AM with the headline "O’Hara steps down as UAW Local 1112 president."