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All plants will close until at least March 30.
Chevrolet
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Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced on Wednesday it will suspend all production in the US, cankaya oto ekspertiz Canada and Mexico starting at the end of Thursday as it steps up to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. The news follows lengthy discussions with the UAW union as it urged the automakers to help look out for workers’ wellbeing.
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Late Tuesday evening, Ford, GM and FCA met with the UAW to discuss how to stop the spread of COVID-19 at production plants as a handful of workers have tested positive for the virus. Ford confirmed a single worker at its Michigan Assembly Plant tested positive and already closed the plant as of today. Another case surfaced at FCA’s plant in Sterling Heights, which led to the automaker to suspend operations as of today. So far, we haven’t learned of any cases at GM manufacturing facilities, though an employee at the Warren Technical Center has tested positive for the virus.
Ford’s shut down will last until March 30, and it will conduct intense cleaning and sanitizing measures at all of its North American facilities. Like Ford, GM’s shutdowns cover all of North America, and during the downtime, the company will sanitize all facilities. GM’s shutdown will occur in a cadence and each plant will receive specific instructions. Unlike Ford, GM said production restart “will be reevaluated week-to-week” after March 30. FCA plans to reevaluate the situation at the end of the month.
“Today’s action is the prudent thing to do. By taking a shutdown and working through next steps, we protect UAW members, their families and the community,” said Rory Gamble, president of the UAW. “We have time to review best practices when the plants reopen, and we prevent the possible spread of this pandemic.”
In the weeks to come, Ford will work with the UAW to outline new social distancing measures for workers on the job and during shift changes. During a shift change, a vast number of people congregate at entry and exit points of a plant.
Ford, GM and FCA join Honda as the list of major automakers shutting down production operations grows.