DETROIT, Free press
Before sunrise on Monday, tens of thousands of autoworkers will head back to work at factories in Detroit, Chicago, Toledo, Louisville and Kansas City as the Detroit Three start building vehicles again.
Shuttered since late March because of the coronavirus, with hourly and salaried workers sheltering at home, cash-starved companies are eager to safely get the lines running. Now the companies are restarting plants throughout North America.
“Some people are looking forward to coming back and some people are concerned. It’s a balance between the two,” said Bernie Ricke, president of UAW Local 600, which represents workers at the Ford Rouge complex.
Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler have implemented new safety protocols that include thermal scanning for high temperatures, daily employee surveys that screen for symptoms, face masks.
GM plants opening Monday
- Bay City Powertrain
- Bedford Casting Operations
- CAMI Assembly in Ingersoll, Ontario
- Defiance Casting Operations in Ohio
- Flint Assembly
- Flint Engine
- Fort Wayne Assembly in Roanoke, Indiana
- GMCH Grand Rapids
- GMCH Kokomo in Indiana
- GMCH Rochester in New York
- Lansing Delta Assembly
- Orion Assembly in Lake Orion
- Toledo Transmission in Ohio
- Tonawanda Engine Plant in New York
- Romulus Engine
- Saginaw Metal Casting Operations
- Spring Hill Manufacturing in Tennessee
- Toledo Transmission in Ohio
- Wentzville Assembly in Missouri
Previous reports listed GM’s Arlington plant as starting this week, but GM said it will now start later in the month. Cain said the restart at Arlington was pushed back based on timing of expected supplier deliveries but, “it will follow quickly.”
Schedules for GM plants in Silao and San Luis Petosi in Mexico are pending, he said.
Also opening later this month, the week of May 25, GM’s Bowling Green plant in Kentucky, which builds the Corvette and Corvette engines, and Lansing Grand River Plant, which builds the Camaro and Cadillac.
Fiat Chrysler plants opening Monday
- Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit
- Sterling Heights Assembly Plant
- Sterling Stamping Plant
- Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio
- Toledo Machining Plant
- Trenton Engine Complex
- Warren Stamping Plant
- Warren Truck Assembly Plant
FCA’s seven plants in Saltillo and Toluca, Mexico, also are scheduled to restart Monday subject to governmental approval for the auto industry.
On Tuesday, FCA will open the Brampton Assembly Plant in Brampton, Ontario, Canada and the Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada.
“Working jointly with the UAW, our employees have worked tirelessly for the past several weeks to implement a comprehensive, multilayered program of enhanced safety measures designed to safeguard our employees,” Mark Stewart, chief operating officer, FCA North America, told the Free Press in a prepared statement Sunday.
“Progressively restarting our operations will be a welcome sign of getting back to normal and for this reason, every decision we have made about restarting our operations has been focused on putting the health and safety of our employees first,” he said.
On May 26, FCA will open:
- Dundee Engine Plant
- Indiana Transmission Plant 1 in Kokomo, Indiana
- Kokomo Casting Plant
- Kokomo Transmission Plant
- Tipton Transmission Plant in Indiana
Then on June 1, FCA will open its Belvidere Assembly Plant and Belvidere Satellite Stamping Plant in Illinois, and the Etobicoke Casting Plant in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
More: US auto industry preps for restart — and it all depends on Mexico
Ford plants opening Monday
- Chicago Assembly Plant
- Dearborn Truck Plant
- Flat Rock Assembly
- Kansas City Assembly in Claycomo, Missouri
- Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky
- Louisville Assembly Plant
- Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne
- Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake
- Woodhaven Forging
- Dearborn Engine and Fuel Tank
- Cleveland Engine Plant in Ohio
- Lima Engine Plant in Ohio
- Rawsonville Components Plant
- Romeo Engine Plant
- Buffalo Stamping Plant in New York
- Chicago Stamping Plant
- Dearborn Diversified Manufacturing Plant
- Dearborn Tool and Die
- Dearborn Stamping Plant
- Woodhaven Stamping Plant
- Livonia Transmission Plant
- Sharonville Transmission Plant in Ohio
- Sterling Axle Plant
- Van Dyke Transmission
On Tuesday, the Windsor and Essex Engine Plants in Ontario, Canada open. Later Ford will open the Flat Rock Assembly Plant and Oakville Assembly in Ontario, Canada, on May 26.
Kelli Felker, Ford global manufacturing and communications manager, said, “We are looking forward to welcoming our employees back to our facilities with all of the proper safety protocols in place to keep them healthy and safe in the workplace.”
More: GM predicts it will be back to full production in about 4 weeks
More: UAW leader ‘encouraged’ by Ford plants’ safety protocols as reopen date considered
More: What happens in Mexico during next 2 weeks will be crucial for Detroit
150,000 strong
UAW President Rory Gamble, who has been cautious and concerned about rushing to restart too soon, said Sunday the companies and their workers are ready. The UAW represents an estimated 150,000 members employed by the Detroit Three in the U.S. and Canada.
“We would like to thank the many UAW members who have worked so hard throughout the shutdown to keep the plants ready for today, as well as members who have worked to reconfigure plants for the safety of all,” Gamble said in prepared remarks.
“The UAW will continue to do everything we can to protect the health and safety of all members as plants reopen,” he said. “And we will continue to advocate for as much testing as possible and full testing as it becomes available.”
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at 313-222-6512or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid. Sign up for our autos newsletter.