Detroit automakers will reportedly shutter factories—but not Tesla
News of two coronavirus cases among US autoworkers may have hastened shutdowns. …
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The nation’s “Big Three” automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler) will shut down their factories for at least two weeks, reports indicate. The Associated Press first broke the news, which was confirmed by The Wall Street Journal.
The United Auto Workers union has been pushing for plant closures for days. The union has argued that continuing to manufacture cars during a pandemic puts US autoworkers’ lives at risk. But as recently as Tuesday evening, carmakers and the UAW were still hashing out a plan to make automaking safer by limiting work hours and physically spreading out workers.
Union leaders’ hands may have been strengthened by news that two autoworkers—one with Fiat Chrysler, the other with Ford—had tested positive for coronavirus.
A big concern here is that the new coronavirus is capable of asymptomatic spread. So if one person tests positive for coronavirus in a particular factory, there’s a risk that other workers have caught the virus but haven’t yet shown symptoms.
Tesla: “conflicting guidance”
Meanwhile, Tesla appears to be defying officials in Alameda County, California—the site of its only North American factory, in Fremont—who have ordered Tesla to stop operations. TechCrunch reports that a Wednesday email from the company’s human resources department instructed employees to come to work.
“We still do not have final word from the city, county, state and federal government on the status of our operations,” the email said.
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