Three major North American automakers shut down until the end of March

market conditions and the need for deep cleaning of assembly operations prompted the three major North American automakers to shut down by the end of MarchGM confirmed that it had begun a systematic and orderly suspension of its manufacturing operations in North AmericaThe suspension will last at least until March 30Production status will then be re-evaluated on a weekly basisProduction at Ford's U.S., Canadian and Mexican manufacturing plants stopped on the evening of March 19 and will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected by March 30In addition, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is working with the United Auto Workers (UAW) to hear from its employeesThe company's plants across North America have also been phased out from March 19 until the end of MarchGeneral Motors, Ford Motor Coand FCA are forming a coronavirus task force with UAW to strengthen the protection of production and warehouse employees at the three companiesGM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra, Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford, Ford Motor President and CEO Jim Hackett, FCA CEO Michael Manley and UAW Chairman Rory Gamble will lead the working groupThe three companies have set up a similar task force in Canada"GM and UAW have always put the health and safety of those entering GM's plants first, and we have agreed to systematically and orderly suspend production to help fight the coronavirus," said Mary Barra, chairman and chief executive officer ofGMWe have been taking special precautions around the world to keep our plant environment safe, and recent developments in North America have shown that this is the right thing to doI thank UAW President Rory Gamble, UAW Vice President Terry Dittes and the local leadership for their teamwork that prompted us to take this unprecedented stepRory Gamble, chairman of theUAW, said: "UAW members, their families and our community will benefit from the current statement and we are confident that we are doing everything we can to protect our health and safety during this epidemic This will give us time to review best practices and prevent the spread of the disease We appreciate GM's current actions and will continue to work with them to develop a health and safety plan implemented after the resumption of production Kumar Galhotra, President of Ford Motor North America , said: "We are continuing to work closely with union leaders, particularly UAW, to find ways to help maintain the health and safety of our employees, and we are looking for solutions to continue to provide our customers with the automotive solutions they really need." In this unprecedented era, we are exploring unique and creative solutions to support our employees, customers, distributors, suppliers and society "
UAW and Ford Motor Co leaders will work together in the coming weeks to develop a plant restart plan and explore additional protocols and procedures to help prevent the spread of the virus." The main thing is to find ways to maximize the social distance between factory workers, whether during work hours or shifts, and to maximize cleaning time between shifts in addition , Ford's production sites in Cologne and Salvua, Germany, as well as its Creova plant in Romania, have been temporarily suspended since the 19th Ford's assembly and engine plant in Valencia, Spain, has been temporarily shut down since the 16th, after three workers were confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus Commenting on his actions, Mike Manley, chief executive of the FCA, said: "In partnership with UAW, we have visited many of our facilities and we need to ensure that our employees feel safe at work and take all possible measures to protect them." We will continue to do the right thing for our employees during this period of uncertainty "
Source: China Plastics Online