) and FCA have all been preparing for weeks to reopen their North American factories in a push to restart work in an industry that accounts for about 6% of U.S. economic activity.
Workers entering factories on Monday were checked by temperature monitors. Face masks or shields are standard protective equipment. Jobs such as installing seat belts that used to require two or more workers to get close together inside a vehicle have been redesigned to keep people a safe distance apart.
Wearing a black Detroit vs Everybody face mask as he entered FCA’s Warren Truck plant early Monday, production operator Laruante Gary, a Detroit resident who installs doors on Ram pickups, said, “I expect to see things cleaned and safety protocols being observed, and I expect us to know something as far as the next steps for us.”
“I don’t know where people have been, I don’t know what they’ve been doing,” he said. “I don’t like it, but what can I do, really?” Segura, who has worked at the truck plant since 1993, said she thought that it was in any case too soon to reopen “because there are still people sick out there.” The emphasis is on getting assembly lines again producing such profitable vehicles as GM’s Chevrolet Suburban SUV, Ford’s F-150 pickup truck and FCA’s Jeep Wrangler SUV.
And will be dependent on a lot of other people having money to buy those cars...