Autoworkers pitch in to make protective gear
DETROIT — Cindy Parkhurst could have stayed home collecting most of her pay while the Ford plant where she normally works remains closed due to coronavirus fears.
Instead, she and hundreds of other workers at Ford, General Motors, Toyota and other companies have gone back to work to make face shields, surgical masks and ventilators in a wartime-like effort to stem shortages of protective gear and equipment.
“I didn’t give it a second thought,” said Parkhurst, 55, a tow motor driver who is now helping Ford and partner 3M manufacture and ship respirators. “It’s a neat thing to do for the community, for the first responders who definitely need this ... gear.”
All over the country, blue-collar and salaried workers have raised their hands to make medical equipment as companies repurpose factories to answer calls for help from nurses, doctors and paramedics who are treating patients with the highly contagious virus. Workers also are making soap and hand sanitizer, which have been in short supply.
At Ford, over 800 people returned to work at four Detroit-area sites. General Motors has about 400 at a now-closed transmission plant in suburban Detroit and an electronics factory in Kokomo, Indiana, working on shields and ventilators. About 60 Toyota workers are making protective equipment in Kentucky, Texas, Michigan and Alabama.
Most automakers in the U.S. temporarily stopped making vehicles about a month ago after workers complained about the risks of infection at the factories.
At Toyota’s giant factory complex in Georgetown, Kentucky, mechanical engineer Kirk Barber helps ship thousands of face shields that workers are making.
All the workers, he said, had to undergo a cultural change to make sure they stay more than 6 feet apart to protect themselves from possible contagion.
“It’s a hard habit to break when you’re typically up and talking to someone, pointing to a document,” Barber said.