Lordstown (USA) (AFP)

A brazier, some posters and music in the background: General Motors workers have been picketing for over a month in Lordstown, in the North American industrial basin.

A historic social movement paralyzed the production of the industrial giant before an agreement was reached between the unions and the builder. But here, the factory that manufactured Chevrolet closed its doors. With her, 1,600 jobs leave this city of Ohio.

"We do not ask to be millionaires, but we do not want to be poor either, we want a middle class life, that's why we fight," says Joey, who did not want to give his name. Last name. After long expecting his factory to be saved, General Motors finally got the green light to shut it down.

To find "the greatness" of the American industrial class is the promise that made Donald Trump elected in the region of the "Rust Belt". In this county of Trumbull, a Democratic stronghold, the Republican won the last presidential election: a first for more than 40 years.

"This is the first time I've voted for a Republican, but he probably will not have my vote," admits Sam, a worker thrown out of doors who wants to remain anonymous. Larry D., a retired factory worker who came to support his comrades, said he was "disappointed and betrayed" by the president who did not impose the tariffs promised on cars. It is certain, Donald Trump "will not win the vote in this region".

A year from a presidential election that promises to be explosive, Donald Trump and his future Democratic rival will have to seduce this white middle class of the former industrial basin.

A proud American of the working class, socially conservative, Mike Yakim does not know if he will renew his vote for the Republican billionaire. But he likes his speech: "We believed in this promise, and in a way, I still believe in it."

Like 700 other Lordstown employees, Mike agreed to relocate to another factory to keep his job. He will now live four hours away from his family in Ohio. This is the third plant for which he works that closes. In his house, he confides his bitterness: "Today, the American dream is a circus, they move and you leave."

- "Do not move!" -

But in a meeting in the area in Youngstown in 2017, Donald Trump promised the return of jobs: "Do not move! Do not sell your house!" It is true that the president has benefited from a favorable economic situation since taking office: unemployment is at its lowest level for 50 years in the United States. "The largest economy in American history!" he welcomes on Twitter.

But the manufacturing industry, in recession, does not participate in the dynamism of the country. Since 2000, the manufacturing sector is shrinking in the United States. Ohio lost 3,500 factories between 2001 and 2011. Today in that state, the employment rate in the industrial sector is still 10 points below the pre-crisis level.

Lord Mayor Arno Hill says he is powerless in the face of this trend: "In northeastern Ohio, every time the economy goes bad, our economy goes a little worse and I do not know why. when the economy goes, we never go back to where we were before. "

As a former laborer, Arno Hill is trying to attract new employers. A distribution center is under construction a few meters from the General Motors plant. But the jobs will not be so numerous, nor as well paid.

As for the General Motors plant, it should be resold to a company manufacturing electric trucks. Last May on Twitter, Donald Trump was delighted: "SUPER NEW FOR OHIO!" [...] With the return of all car manufacturers, and much more, the United States is booming! "But new employees will probably not benefit from the same benefits as GM, nor the hourly wage of 31 dollars.

Key state for who wants to win the White House in 2020, the Ohio is in the sights of the Democrats who want to recover the voices of these counties of the "Rust Belt". The candidates are trying to seduce by proposing industrial policies, explains Todd Belt, professor of political science at George Washington University, recalling: "As the saying goes: + Where goes the Ohio, goes the country +"

© 2019 AFP