Joe Babiasz is livid at Republican members of the U.S. Senate, but the source of his frustration can be pared down to one man: Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, whose outspoken opposition to the federal government’s auto industry bailout plan placed a veritable bull’s-eye on his back in the eyes of Babiasz.

“I have Sen. Shelby in my political sights,” said Babiasz, 58, of Huntington Woods, a General Motors retiree. “I watched in horror (during the televised hearings) as Mr. Shelby berated the Big Three CEOs, as if they were clowns who didn’t know what they were doing. I felt like something had to be done. I wanted to tell him, ‘Sen. Shelby, you’re wrong because you don’t get it — you’re wrong because you don’t know the facts.’”

In response, Babiasz repeatedly called and e-mailed Shelby’s office to talk to him about all the recent innovations made by Ford, GM and Chrysler, as well as the catastrophic national consequences — such as the loss of 2 to 3 million jobs across the U.S. — should they go under. He also pointed to Shelby’s ties to foreign car manufacturers and his opposition to the $1.5 billion Chrysler bailout plan in 1980.

But after it became clear that he was not making the desired impact through words alone, Babiasz decided to try a different strategy. So he started a new Web site, boycottalabamanow.com, urging people from around the country to boycott all products made in Alabama and cancel all travel plans to the state.

As of Dec. 19, just 10 days after the site first launched, it had received more than 714,000 total hits, nearly 124,000 unique visitors, and Babiasz’s mailbox was filled with 3,300 e-mails, the vast majority of which, he said, are from passionate supporters of the cause.

“I feel terrible for all the hardworking people of Alabama who might be affected by this, but we have to push the Mr. Shelbys of the world to understand how very important (the American auto industry) is,” he explained. “I’ve been humbled by the overwhelmingly positive response this has gotten. … I have no grudges against the state of Alabama, but this was the only thing I could do to say, ‘Mr. Shelby, this is what happens when you turn your back on part of America. Enough is enough.’”

Representatives from Shelby’s office and the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama could not be reached for comment, despite repeated phone calls.

Babiasz spent 34 years working for GM before his retirement in 2002, starting out as a Buick assembly line worker in New Jersey before being promoted to a number of other positions, including plant supervisor, process engineer and assembly plant liaison. Currently, he works part time as a writer for four different automotive publications.

Dan Downs, 50, of West Bloomfield is one of many supporters of the Alabama boycott. An account manager for “a large national insurance company for a number of major (U.S.) automotive suppliers,” Downs and a half-dozen friends decided to cancel a winter golf trip to Alabama in order to help champion Babiasz’s cause.

In an e-mail to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, a collection of 11 golf resorts throughout Alabama, Downs called Shelby’s actions “shamefully un-American,” “full of half-truths and lies” and a thinly veiled attempt to promote “his own selfish agenda.”

“I just wanted to express my feelings directly,” Downs later explained. “I didn’t think what (Shelby) was saying was fair. As Americans, I think we need to help each other rather than work against each other.”

Like Babiasz, he emphasized that he bears no ill feelings toward Alabama residents. “This is just one person’s small protest,” said Downs, who has several family members with ties to the Big Three, including a brother who works as an engineer for GM. “I’m not trying to directly affect the people of Alabama, but I don’t know any other way to hit (Shelby) than in his pocketbook. We have to take a stand.”

But not all of Babiasz’s backers are from metro Detroit. In fact, they come from all over the country, from states as varied as Florida, New York and Tennessee.

One of those supporters, Allen Farley of Belfast, Tenn., said he has been deeply affected by the Big Three’s recent struggles. A stationary engineer with more than 25 years of experience with GM, Farley works at the company’s plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., which, with nearly 4,000 employees, is one of its biggest nationwide.

“I’ve seen the tightening of everyone’s budget here,” Farley said. “I’ve never seen it this tight before: Everything has been frozen since this happened — businesses are closing down, houses are not selling. Our last day of operation will be Dec. 23, and we’ll be closing down until Feb. 9.”

Farley, 47, has a son who attends the University of Alabama in Huntsville and said that he and his wife prefer to drive 30 miles south to Huntsville to go shopping rather than making the trek 30 miles north to Nashville.

“I spend $10,000 a year, easily, down (in Alabama),” he said. “Everybody here vacations down there. There are literally thousands of us down here who can make an impact. I can easily drive 30 miles north rather than 30 miles south and keep my money in Tennessee.”

He also stressed that the auto industry bailout “is absolutely a win-win for the American people. This is not just a Detroit issue — it’s actually a national issue,” noting that GM also has major plants in Arlington, Va.; Fairfax, Va.; and Shreveport, La.

“Maybe this (boycott) will be a little bit of wakeup call to people who have forgotten that,” he said.

One person who hasn’t forgotten is Babiasz, who pointed out that the current economic crisis has gone hand in hand with the problems of the Big Three. “This is the perfect storm,” he said. “I haven’t seen it this bad in my 58 years.”

Still, after the Senate’s rejection of the auto bailout on Dec. 11, and President George W. Bush’s subsequent granting of $17.4 billion in short-term loans to GM and Chrysler, does Babiasz have plans to drop the boycott anytime soon?

If Shelby’s track record is any indication, don’t count on it.

“Mr. Shelby is a clueless, stubborn old man,” he said. “But if he changes his mind, then I’m turning the switch off. My ultimate goal would be to have all these people who are canceling their vacations to come back (to Alabama). … If I could start a Web site to put a stop to (Shelby’s) paycheck and not hurt the workers of Alabama, I would have done that instead. But I just can’t give up on this.”

For more information on Babiasz’s efforts, visit www.boycottalabamanow.com.

Share your ideas and expertise on this topic