Shutdown Extension for Mexican Plants, Furlough for Honda Employees

by Steph Willems

Published: April 16th, 2020

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]

#AssemblyPlants #Coronavirus #Honda #Production

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7 of 13 comments

Thelaine on Apr 17, 2020

We may be unemployed and poor, but at least we "flattened the curve."

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RHD on Apr 17, 2020

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.

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RHD on Apr 17, 2020

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.

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- JimZ on Apr 17, 2020
  
  Singapore just saw a big resurgence in cases after loosening restrictions, and up until then they were considered to have a good handle on the situation. this virus doesn't care what you think of it, it doesn't care what your favorite talking head has told you about it, and it seriously doesn't care how much of an impatient little baby you are. It sure isn't going to go away just because you stood around in your state's captial wearing a bunch of tacti-cool nonsense you bought at a gun & knife show.
  
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- EGSE on Apr 17, 2020
  
  @JimZ AN ominous trend is appearing in cv-19 *survivors*: "But clinicians around the world are seeing evidence that suggests the virus also may be causing heart inflammation, acute kidney disease, neurological malfunction, blood clots, intestinal damage and liver problems. That development has complicated the treatment of the most severe cases of covid-19, the illness caused by the virus, and makes the course of recovery less certain, they said." "One New York hospital recently had 51 ICU patients who needed 24-hour kidney treatment but had just 39 machines to do it, he said. The hospital had to ration the care, keeping each patient on the therapy less than 24 hours a day, he said. "The virus also may be damaging the heart. Clinicians in China and New York have reported myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and, more dangerous, irregular heart rhythms that can lead to cardiac arrest in covid-19 patients." Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/coronavirus-destroys-lungs-but-doctors-are-finding-its-damage-in-kidneys-hearts-and-elsewhere/2020/04/14/7ff71ee0-7db1-11ea-a3ee-13e1ae0a3571_story.html And another: https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-04-10/coronavirus-infection-can-do-lasting-damage-to-the-heart-liver And another: https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=229150 There is no substitute for reducing the number of infected to the lowest practicable level. The long-term financial cost of potentially millions on long-term dialysis or with serious chronic heart disease brought on by an infection could rival the cost of a shutdown. Add to that the lost productivity and quality of life for those afflicted. The economy will eventually recover; the chronically ill won't.
  
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- JimZ on Apr 17, 2020
  
  @EGSE but it's no worse than the cold or flu! A couple guys here said so!
  
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JD-Shifty on Apr 19, 2020

the white collars and executives should be shown the door first. engineers and workers last

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