Electric school bus factory touted by Warnock in ad lays off 115 employees
Blue Bird said that 115 employees, or six percent of their workforce, would be affected by the layoffs
A manufacturing plant that Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., touted earlier this month in a political ad laid off over 100 workers earlier this week, citing "supply chain disruptions."
In a recent campaign ad, Warnock highlighted the Blue Bird Corporation electric school bus manufacturing plant in Fort Valley, Georgia, while promoting his legislation designed to "transition" school districts away from gas-powered buses.
The Georgia Democrat called the factory "America’s largest manufacturer of electric school buses" and touted his Clean Commute for Kids Act.
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Warnock claimed in the ad that his legislation to transition to electric buses saves "taxpayer money" and supports "thousands" of Peach State jobs.
A spokesperson for Warnock's senate office told FOX Business that the Georgia Democrat is "encouraging" Blue Bird to "work with other local businesses to help impacted workers find employment."
"Senator Reverend Warnock is encouraging Blue Bird to work with other local businesses to help impacted workers find new employment, pushing the company to do anything it can to rehire the workers at a future date, and continuing his work to alleviate the supply chain issues impacting Georgia businesses, workers and families," the Warnock spokesperson said.
Blue Bird confirmed to local press that 115 employees, or six percent of their workforce, would be affected by the layoffs and were immediately let go from their jobs.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 04: Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) gestures as he speaks at a news conference following a virtual weekly Senate Democratic Policy meeting at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 04, 2022 in Washington, DC. During the news confer (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The company appeared to echo national Democrats by blaming the layoffs on Russia, saying the "supply chain disruptions" were caused by "Russia’s war in Ukraine and the lingering COVID-19 pandemic."
Blue Bird said there are no current plans for future layoffs and that the affected employees may be eligible to be rehired "once the economic conditions improve."
Sens. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., push for Medicaid expansion in Democrats' reconciliation bill on Oct. 26, 2021 (Tyler Olson/Fox News)
Warnock's recent ad isn't the first time that he has promoted Blue Bird. Shortly after Warnock and a couple other Democrats introduced the Clean Commute for Kids Act last April, which was aimed at advancing electric school buses across the United States, he toured Blue Bird's facility.
"I grew up riding in Blue Bird school buses, and am a product of the public school system. I can tell you the buses I rode back then were a lot louder than this electric bus," Warnock said, according to a press release. "Some say that you can choose to invest to save the environment or jobs - but you can’t save jobs without saving the environment. With investment in electric school buses, we are poised to lead more into the sustainable energy future - the green energy job future. It’s good for the economy, it’s good for the air, and it’s certainly great for our children."
Last April, Warnock tweeted that Blue Bird was "leading the way in greening our transportation infrastructure & protecting our children’s health." In August 2021, Warnock said he was "so proud" of Blue Bird for "helping green our yellow school buses."
The layoffs come as the U.S. economy endures several economic woes including record-high inflation, supply chain issues, a new bear market, and prospects of a coming recession.
President Joe Biden and the White House COVID-19 Response Team participate in a virtual call with the National Governors Association from the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House Complex on Monday, Dec (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Earlier this year, Warnock sent a letter to President Biden urging the White House’s Supply Chain Disruption Task Force to investigate global shipping carriers, saying they were responsible for "price gouging" and "corporate greed."
"Inflation and rising costs for families is a persistent problem about which I hear from Georgians every day, and we must ensure that corporate greed is not unnecessarily contributing to this problem while Georgia families struggle," Warnock said in February.
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Craft Ventures co-founder and general partner David Sacks warned on Thursday that the U.S. is headed for a "very serious" recession later this year as markets have been experiencing the "worst downturn since the dot-com crash."
On Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated his commitment to curbing the highest inflation in decades, indicating the central bank will raise interest rates as high as necessary in order to tame consumer prices.
FOX Business’ Talia Kaplan contributed reporting.