UAW pushes back against early May US auto restarts

A major US union is pushing back against plans by US automakers to begin restarting plants in the next two weeks on safety concerns amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The president of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) union — which represents more than 150,000 US auto workers at Ford, General Motors (GM) and Fiat-Chrysler (FCA) —said yesterday that "the UAW does not believe the scientific data is conclusive that it is safe to have our members back in the workplace."

"We strongly suggest to our companies in all sectors that an early May date is too soon and too risky to our members, their families and their communities," said UAW president Rory Gamble.

GM has notified some salaried and skilled trade employees that they may need to report to work soon.

The company is working through planning on how to safely restart its auto plants, which have been shutdown since 19 March, GM said yesterday. No official date for restarting the plants has been given by GM or Ford.

The UAW called in March for FCA, Ford and GM to close their plants in order to protect workers as the coronavirus spread, with the companies shuttering plants in mid-March.

The UAW has representation at the three major US-based automaker. But foreign-based automakers, which have over a dozen auto plants in the US, and more in Mexico and Canada, do not have union representation and have fewer labor constraints on restarting their operations.

Japanese carmaker Honda extended its North American auto plant closures through 8 May, while Nissan will keep its plants closed through mid-May.

German automaker Volkswagen plans to resume operations at its Tennessee plant next week, which would be the first in the country to restart.

FCA, Hyundai, Kia and Toyota all plan to begin restarts of their North American auto plants on 4 May.

The closures have forced more than 10mn short tons (st)/yr of flat rolled steel production to be taken offline, mostly through the idling of blast furnaces by integrated steelmakers. Electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmakers — which use scrap to produce raw steel — are also planning to lower production, with EAF steelmaker Steel Dynamics announcing this week it would run its two flat rolled mills at 80pc during the second quarter.

By Rye Druzin