Ford, Chrysler looking to restart production
Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV drew heated language from the United Auto Workers by issuing plans to restart production at U.S. plants as the union confirmed that two more of its members have died.
After halting North American output last week as the coronavirus spread across the U.S., the carmakers said Thursday that they will keep their factories shut until at least April 14. Ford announced several key facilities it plans to reopen on that date, while Fiat Chrysler said its decisions will depend on states’ stay-in-place orders and the readiness of each plant.
“We are reviewing with great concern and caution today’s announcement,” the UAW said within 40 minutes of Ford releasing its statement. Rory Gamble, the union’s president, added later: “The only guideline in a boardroom should be management asking themselves, ‘Would I send my family — my own son or daughter — into that plant and be 100 percent certain they are safe?’”
Tension between the UAW and automakers is likely to remain high as Ford, Fiat Chrysler and General Motors Co. seek to get assembly lines running again. Two union members who worked at separate Fiat Chrysler plants in Michigan died after contracting COVID-19, a union spokesman confirmed Thursday, after two others in Michigan and Indiana died last week.
The two Fiat Chrysler employees who died this week worked at two facilities north of Detroit: its truck factory in Warren and a transport operation in Sterling Heights. The two who died last week were on staff at the Sterling Heights pickup assembly plant and a facility in Kokomo, Ind.
GM doesn’t have firm return-to-work dates at this time, a spokesman said.
Safety measures
Ford said it will put in place additional safety measures to protect returning workers as it brings factories back online. The company has had employees at plants in Wayne, Mich., and Louisville, Ky., test positive for the virus. The latter facility is among those that Ford is planning to reopen April 14.
“I wouldn’t have any problem returning to work as long as the company, in conjunction with the union, takes some common-sense precautions to allow the workers to protect themselves,” said Brian Pannebecker, 60, a forklift operator at a Ford axle plant in Sterling Heights. He would specifically like the automaker to distribute protective gloves and provide sanitary wipes so staffers can keep their work areas clean.
The shutdowns are leading to financial hardship, even with union benefits that give members about 85 percent of their usual takehome pay, according to Pannebecker. Some factories were running on overtime before the companies idled them.
“I’ve been working seven days a week, 12 hours a day right up until the day we were laid off,” Pannebecker said. “It’s a big change to go from those kind of paychecks to 85 percent of a 40hour week. It’s a challenge and a big adjustment.”
Credit shock
The plant closings also have pressured automakers’ finances and contributed to S&P Global Ratings downgrading Ford to junk Wednesday. Fiat Chrysler set up a new $3.86 billion credit line, while Daimler AG is said to be in talks with banks to arrange an at least 10 billion euro facility.
After Ford suspended its dividend, drew down $15.4 billion from two credit lines and retracted the earnings guidance given to investors Feb. 4, its management is sharing in the sacrifice.
Effective May 1, top executives’ base salaries will be put off by at least five months, Ford said in a regulatory filing. The deferrals apply to Executive Chairman Bill Ford’s entire salary and half of the base pay for CEO Jim Hackett, Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley and Chief Financial Officer Tim Stone.