Shutdown Extension for Mexican Plants, Furlough for Honda Employees


Honda was one of the first automakers to announce a shutdown of North American vehicle production, with the Detroit Three (and others) quickly following suit after the company’s March 18th proclamation. Initially pegged at an optimistic 6 days, the shutdown saw the automaker’s plants go dark on March 23rd.
Fast-forward a few weeks and the shutdown still has a ways to go, with Mexico now seeing an extension of its idle period. Meanwhile, U.S. employees now can look forward to no pay.
“In addition to the impact of COVID-19 on the marketplace, stay-at-home orders in many cities and states prevent consumers in a number of markets from purchasing new vehicles,” the automaker said in a Wednesday statement. “As a result, Honda must continue to suspend production in order to align product supply with a lack of market demand.”
While Honda’s Mexican vehicle and powertrain plants shut down at the same time as its U.S. and Canadian facilities, the end date wasn’t as far into the future. Honda now says Mexico will remain offline through April 30th. That country’s Honda plants build, among other products, the Honda HR-V and Fit.
Elsewhere, U.S. and Canadian plants are still idle through May 1st, though the automaker now says white collar employees will join hourly workers in the digital unemployment insurance line.
“The majority of our salaried and support associates at Honda operations in the U.S. will be furloughed for a two-week period,” the automaker said.
[Image: Chris Tonn/TTAC]
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We may be unemployed and poor, but at least we "flattened the curve."
Mexico is in the early stage of increasing COVID-19 cases. Their president is on a par with Trump and Bolsonaro of Brazil, if not even worse. Sending the Honda workers home for a few weeks might actually save a few lives, although the beneficiaries would probably never know of their good fortune.
Mexico is in the early stage of increasing COVID-19 cases. Their president is on a par with Trump and Bolsonaro of Brazil, if not even worse. Sending the Honda workers home for a few weeks might actually save a few lives, although the beneficiaries would probably never know of their good fortune.
the white collars and executives should be shown the door first. engineers and workers last