(WWJ) A sign on the Fiat Chrysler Warren Truck Assembly Plant reads: "Let's restart" as auto plants get rolling after a 10-week shutdown due to COVID-19.
"Yeah, we're excited to be back to work," said Joe Polgacz of Dearborn Heights — one of around 15,000 FCA employees across the U.S. and Canada back on the job Monday.
Outside the plant, where they make the Ram 1500 Classic, Polgacz told WWJ's Charlie Langton he doesn't have any concerns. "I think we're all safe here; we're wearing masks and everything, so...I'm just glad to be back to work. We need the money!"
Is Mark Roberts of Clarkston worried about working amid the pandemic? "Ah, no, not necessarily," he told Langton. "This is my first day back, actually, so I had to go through some online training, safety, and we'll see."
As Ford and General Motors plants also reopen, precautions are being taken at all Big 3 facilities, including: Workers will first be given masks, safety glasses and gloves before being screened by a thermal imaging camera to determine if that have a fever — which is a symptom of COVID-19. Workers who have symptoms will put under a 14-day quarantine, but will still be paid.
Those cleared for work will work farther apart, and there will be staggered break and lunch times to avoid large gatherings.
Pam Powell, who served as the Civil Rights Regional Advisory President for the UAW, told WWJ's Vickie Thomas many workers she knows are concerned about their safety, including lower seniority workers who are in a tough spot and coming in to fill potential shortages.
"So you've made me come off of unemployment where I had a full check to come back to work where it might not necessarily be a full check every day," Powell said.
Powell reluctantly took a buyout on April 1, retiring from her job at the Ford Rouge plant. "I came home and I was really saddened by it, but I see how that God had a plan," she said. "And I am so grateful and so happy that I don't have to go back into this, I don't know what to do. But I still worry about my work family."
On the business end, Big 3 automakers say there's enough pent-up demand, especially for pickup trucks, to get the factories up and running.
But WWJ Auto Analyst John McElroy says it will take several weeks for plants to get up to normal line speed.
"Look, it's not going to go back up to where it was before," McElroy said. "But we may fairly quickly see the industry snap back to 70 or 80% of what it was before. But, like I said, the whole industry's going to be down several million units, even in the best scenario possible."
LMC Automotive Analyst Jeff Schuster says there are bound to be hiccups as dozens of factories restart at once.
"It's going to be, honestly, quite a nightmare to get this up and running, but nonetheless the industry needs to move forward," Schuster WWJ's Jeff Gilbert "And inventories are getting depleted, so it needs to replenish those."
Schuster said carmarkers will be have to deal with part shortages and possibly a higher rate of absenteeism due to the coronavirus.