UAW Reports Death of Two FCA Factory Employees With Coronavirus

The UAW has announced the death of two Fiat Chrysler factory workers who contracted the novel coronavirus, extending sympathies while urging members to exercise safe practices during the ongoing health crisis. With COVID-19 infections ramping up across Europe and the United States, this was to be expected. The deaths are simply the first known to impact autoworker union members directly.

FCA declined to offer the names of the men, citing a respect for privacy. For our purposes, we’re only interested in their places of business, noticing the facilities where the two individuals worked — FCA’s truck plant in Sterling Heights, MI and transmission facility in Kokomo, IN — previously reported cases of employees contracting the virus.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles closed its North American assembly plants last week for at least the remainder of this month. At the time, it had previously idled its facility in Sterling Heights after an employee reportedly contracted the new coronavirus. There were also reports of contagion at the Kokomo site, with at least one worker testing positive on March 12th.

According to Automotive News, the UAW recently shared news of a third death — this time from the Warren Truck Assembly Plant near Detroit, though the union said it wasn’t clear that the employee had actually contracted the virus, just that they were being treated for similar symptoms before passing away.

In a letter to members, UAW President Rory Gamble briefly noted the loss of life before shifting to the game plan put in place to avoid future tragedies. This deals largely with union victories in getting other manufacturers and suppliers to finally shut down plants or extend closures already in effect:

We had some other positive news today. Working with the Ford Motor Company, we got the announcement that they will not be reopening plants on March 30, as was originally planned, due to numerous stay-at-home orders from government officials. We commend Ford for this action. FCA has told us that they intend to comply with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s order and have no plans to reopen on March 30. We are waiting to hear from GM and are demanding that they put our members’ safety first and adhere to government and health officials’ recommendations to stay-at-home. We will keep you updated.

In another positive development, the UAW and Ford Motor Company will be collaborating to find ways to help improve and protect lives across the country during this crisis. And, news from the UAW GM department announced a collaboration with the company to produce much needed ventilators to help save lives.

He closed by commending employees from all sectors who had to stay on the front lines to keep essential services operational in the United States, adding that the UAW would do everything in its power to keep everyone safe and slow the spread of the virus. It’s unlikely these will be the only UAW deaths reported.

The swift outbreaks that took place in Italy and Spain could foreshadow what the United States may endure if proper precautions aren’t taken. Though it could be argued that neither European country understood the seriousness of the situation before it was too late, Italy, which has also closed down all non-essential business, has reported the most coronavirus-related deaths of any nation in the world.

By contrast, China appears to be fairing rather well and now has fewer reported deaths than either of the suffering nations in Europe — despite it having more total cases and serving as the point of origin for COVID-19. However, that’s dependent on your preferred news sources. Many outlets seem to take China’s figures at face value, occasionally praising its aggressive response — albeit less so lately. Others claim the real numbers should be much higher and point to a string of governmental coverups stretching back before January.

Ideally, reliable data would have helped other nations better prepare for seemingly inevitable outbreaks, but that’s difficult to quantify or guarantee without the benefit of hindsight. The current reality is that countless industries must now make last minute plans as governments around the world scramble to come up with a solution. And it’s probably what we should be focused upon. For now, the automotive sector is operating (or more accurately not operating) in a fog of uncertainty. Workers want to work, but not get sick, and manufacturers want them building cars without spreading disease.

Sadly, those options appear to be mutually exclusive for the time being.

[Image: James R. Martin/Shutterstock]