Virus surge slows Ram truck plant; too many absent

Michigan’s worstin-the-nation COVID-19 outbreak is beginning to slow auto production, with a major Ram pickup truck plant reducing its output because of a high number of absent workers.

About 10% of the production work force at the Stel- lantis (formerly Fiat Chrys- ler) assembly plant in Ster- ling Heights, north of Detroit, either tested positive or is on quarantine, a person who has been briefed on the situation said Friday.

That is equivalent to about 600 workers, said the per- son, who asked not to be identified because neither the company nor the United Auto Workers union is releas- ing details.

The 5-million-square-foot plant has about 7,450 hourly workers, but not all of them are on the assembly lines. To try to stem the shortfall, the company has pulled workers from a pickup factory in nearby Warren, Michigan, that has been forced to shut down by the global shortage of semiconductors.

But because those workers have to be trained to build the new Ram pickups, the assembly line is moving more slowly than normal, said the person, who did not know how much production had been lost.

As it has for weeks, Michigan continues to suffer from the nation’s highest seven-day case rate, 538 per every 100,000 residents, t he federal government reported.

The UAW confirmed that cases are on the rise at Sterling Heights. Many of the absent workers didn’t test positive but are either awaiting tests or isolating themselves because of close contact with others who have the virus, the union said.