COVID-19 Update 4/6/2020

My Brothers and Sisters,

Just a short message on this Monday afternoon as we move into another week of this worldwide crisis. Today, I’d like to start with the news of an amazing milestone.

I’ve spoken before of our brave UAW men and women who are working tirelessly at the Ford Plymouth, Michigan plant producing much needed face shields to protect those on the front lines of this pandemic. In just 13 days, since this effort began, our UAW members have produced 1 million face shields. This vital Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been shipped to numerous health care facilities in several states, one of the hardest hit being New York. Mayor Bill de Blasio had this to say yesterday: “New York City is on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are deeply grateful for the resources and support we are receiving from people across the country. We thank the members of the UAW and Ford for their support.”

General Motors is also collaborating with the UAW to produce personal protection equipment (PPE) for health care workers. And I know that our UAW brothers and sisters are stepping up in countless ways to help those in need in communities across the country. On behalf of myself and the entire International Executive Board, I want to extend our sincere thanks to these brave UAW members who leave their homes and go to work to save lives. There are truly no words adequate to your sacrifice.

As always, there is sad news today. I’m very sorry to report that we lost another brother to the virus last night. He worked at the Daimler Components and Logistics facility in Gastonia, North Carolina. Our support and thoughts are with his family and friends.

I also want to update you on a development from FCA today. They have announced that they will progressively restart their U.S. and Canadian manufacturing facilities beginning May 4. GM and Ford have not yet announced a restart date. We are continuing to work with all of our employers across all sectors to keep our members safe. We will keep you updated as developments occur.

As always, I want to urge everyone to stay safe, support one another and please adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/ .
For more updates and questions that you may have about your worksite, visit UAW (https://uaw.org/coronavirus/).

In solidarity,

Rory L. Gamble