DEARBORN (WWJ) - Ford has given up on plans to restart some of its plants in mid-April.
The automaker says it is delaying the restart of production at its North America plants to help protect its workers.
The company was originally aiming to restart production April 6 at the Hermosillo Assembly Plant in Mexico and April 14 at several key U.S. plants, many in metro Detroit. Those startup dates have been further postponed and will be announced later.
"The health and safety of our workforce, dealers, customers, partners and communities remains our highest priority," Kumar Galhotra, Ford president, North America, said in a statement. "We are working very closely with union leaders – especially at the UAW – to develop additional health and safety procedures aimed at helping keep our workforce safe and healthy."
Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti Township will restart the week of April 20 to produce the Model A-E ventilator, in collaboration with GE Healthcare, supported by paid volunteer UAW workers.
The Model A-E ventilator is a basic, cost-efficient design that addresses the needs of most COVID-19 patients. Production will quickly scale up to produce 50,000 ventilators by July 4 – helping to meet the growing demand in the U.S. Approximately 500 paid volunteer UAW workers will be building these ventilators. At this time, ventilator production will be the only work being done at the Rawsonville plant.
Workers at the Rawsonville plant will have to self-certify online every day that they are not experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms. If they are, they will not be allowed to work. Work stations will be spaced at least six feet apart to maintain proper social distancing. Shifts will be separated so there is no contact between workers in the different shifts.
