UAW Gets Automakers to Agree to Clean Plants, Not Shut Them Down

• A task force that combines the UAW with representatives from GM, Ford, and FCA has agreed to address the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus, by adjusting schedules and cleaning practices at assembly plants.
• The agreement stops short of the demand the UAW had announced earlier in the day: to shut down plants entirely for two weeks.
• Instead, as Automotive News first reported, shifts will be rearranged to avoid human contact and to extend periods between shifts; partial shutdowns will also take place.

The United Auto Workers reports tonight that it did not convince the U.S. Big Three to shut down its facilities for two weeks to protect workers during the coronavirus pandemic. The union had sent a letter to its members, made public earlier today, saying it had asked Fiat Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors for the shutdown. The union and the automakers formed a joint task force last week to deal with the pandemic, and it met over the weekend, the UAW had said.

UAW Demands Carmakers Close Plants

Detroit Three, UAW Create a Coronavirus Task Force

Tonight, the UAW reported to its members via Twitter that “All three companies have agreed to review and implement the rotating partial shutdown of facilities, extensive deep cleaning of facility and equipment between shifts, extended periods between shifts, and extensive plans to avoid member contact. They will be working on shift rotation to minimize risk.” Full details of what the rotating shutdowns will entail are expected from the automakers tomorrow.