Ford Reintroducing Mask Requirements in Three States
For the last several nights it’s been impossible to turn on a screen and not encounter some besuited mouthpiece telling you that face coverings and social distancing will be the peak of fashion by this fall. In the real world, we’ve seen this mirrored by governments and businesses reinstituting COVID restrictions. General Motors even got out early and decided (with encouragement from the UAW) to bring back masking in Missouri.
Now it’s Ford’s turn.
Having previously revived masking rules for its facilities in two states, the Blue Oval informed its Kentucky workforce that it will likewise be subject to restrictions on Thursday. According to Automotive News, the rules won’t go into effect for Kentucky Truck and Louisville Assembly until Sunday.
Rules appear to be the same as the ones lifted by all of the Big Three on July 12th. Ford’s stated reasoning is identical to what was provided earlier in the week, when it announced restrictions for Missouri and Florida. It’s worried about elevated infection figures and the Delta variant getting line workers sick. But while the Show-Me State yields Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant, Florida only has some parts warehouses/shipping hubs. Restrictions pertain to everyone, including those who have been fully vaccinated.
From AN:
A Ford spokeswoman reiterated a statement issued Tuesday that the automaker could make additional changes as necessary based on data. The delta variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 continues to spread in various areas throughout the U.S.
Also this week, Ford said it will require U.S. employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before any international business travel, based on recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But Ford’s initial decisions were actually made shortly before the CDC updated guidance that vaccinated people begin wearing masks again, with the same being true for General Motors. But the UAW had been in discussions with medical experts and the companies all year to decide what protocols would be ideal for individual worksites. They clearly played a factor in GM’s decision to return to masking and likely had a hand in encouraging Ford to do likewise.
Stellantis has kept relatively quiet about the matter but GM and Ford have said they plan on keeping CDC guidance at the front of their mind when determining future safety protocols. While we haven’t been able to take the temperature of any automotive employees on the updated factory rules, several expressed mixed feelings on masking at the end of June. Employee compliance was also said to be getting lax, making us wonder if workers (or employers) will even bother adhering to masking mandates with any seriousness this late in the game. After all, the original “two weeks to flatten the curve” has lasted roughly five hundred days and we’re seeing fewer and fewer covered faces out there.
[Image: Miljan Zivkovic/Shutterstock]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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I can see it getting to the point that ALL federal employees have to get vaccinated or tested on a weekly basis. After a few tests, I would think that the anti-vaxxers would willingly get vaccinated. But wait, there's more! I'm sure the tin foil hat crowd would insist that government is secretly inserting mind control chips during Covid testing.
So many fncking cheese d!cks in this thread. Anyway, I hope the current group of sh!+heads in office are held to the same standard as the last group of sh!+heads. So far we've gotten a plan that seemed to hope for the best and rely on idiots to practice sound logic. This is frankly no better than the last dude's plan. Guess I'll work through this shutdown too. Hopefully it is equally lucrative