Senator Warnock: “My sharp focus has been on protecting jobs with good wages that were committed to Georgians”

Senator Warnock: “I have spoken repeatedly to senior leaders at the companies, as well as numerous officials in the Biden Administration…[n]ow that it seems sure that these jobs will stay in Georgia, I’m glad that all the parties involved listened”

ICYMI—from NPR: “Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock said the ITC decision ‘threatens seriously’ the future of the project in Commerce and Biden’s own goals” – MORE HERE

ICYMI: “Warnock’s office working on SK Battery issue; says settlement would be best” – MORE HERE from the Jackson (GA) Herald

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), a member of the Senate Banking and Commerce committees, issued the following statement after media reports surfaced that a settlement has been reached in a legal dispute that would have threatened the viability of the SK Innovation electric battery plant in Commerce, GA. 

“In my conversations with the Biden Administration and the companies involved in this on-going dispute, my sharp focus has been on protecting jobs with good wages that were committed to Georgians. And given the outstanding litigation between the companies, it has always been clear that the best way to protect workers in Commerce—and the jobs Georgians were promised—is for the companies involved to negotiate a settlement in good faith.

“To that end, I have spoken repeatedly to senior leaders at the companies, as well as numerous officials in the Biden Administration about the value of the Commerce factory, both to the local economy and the critical effort in Georgia and across our country to reduce pollution and strengthen environmental sustainability. Now that it seems sure that these jobs will stay in Georgia, I’m glad that all the parties involved listened and that the community of Commerce got the decision they hoped for, which will help keep the local economy moving forward.”

Senator Warnock has been a vocal champion for the Commerce factory, and has advocated strongly for the companies involved to reach a settlement, preventing additional litigation and continued uncertainty for the plant; since being sworn-in, Senator Warnock and his office have been in frequent contact with the Biden Administration, as well as senior leaders at SK Innovation and LG Chem, and local residents and other business community leaders in Commerce and around Georgia to encourage the companies toward an amicable negotiation that would ensure the jobs committed to Commerce would come to fruition. Additionally, Senator Warnock pressed Biden Administration officials on the importance of keeping the Commerce plant online to help advance the nation’s long-term environmental sustainability goals.

For more information, read more from the AJC HERE. 

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