Friday marks day five of the blockade on Ambassador Bridge, costing $356 million of goods that typically travel daily between the “major international gateway” connecting Detroit and Windsor. As auto manufacturers begin to cancel shifts, forcing Michiganders out of work and costing them tens of millions in lost wages, Republican gubernatorial candidates are standing against Michigan’s workers and economy by encouraging the blockade.
On the same day assembly plants at GM and Ford were forced to cancel shifts in plants across Michigan due to a lack of parts traveling across the bridge, Kevin Rinke released a video applauding the blockade grinding commerce and manufacturing to a halt. Rinke has previously made his opposition to Michigan’s strong auto industry clear when he came out against the historic $7 billion GM investment.
Garrett Soldano also took a stand against Michigan’s working families with a video applauding the blockade and referring to the protestors as “true freedom fighters” with contagious courage.
MDP spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite issued the following statement:
“In the case of the blockade at Ambassador Bridge, the choice is clear: you either side with Michigan’s economy and the auto industry, or you don’t. This should be a no-brainer, but Kevin Rinke and Garrett Soldano are once again showing Michigan working families that they will be left behind in favor of the ideological agenda of the day every time.Michigan’s economy can’t afford them and their extreme whims at the helm.”
