Name: UAW local requests shutdown of major GM plant in Texas
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UAW local requests shutdown of major GM plant in Texas

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Detroit Free Press The local union at one of General Motors&nbsp;largest plants has asked the company to shut&nbsp;it down&nbsp;because of&nbsp;a growing outbreak of coronavirus cases in the area.UAW Local 276, representing the nearly 5,000 workers at GM's Arlington Assembly plant in Texas, notified members that it made the request to the company Monday in&nbsp;a notice that also was&nbsp;posted on the Tuesday morning."Due to the most recent data on the COVID-19 outbreak, the Bargaining Committee has asked General Motors to shut down Arlington Assembly until the curve is flattened for the benefit and well-being of our members. Every day we are setting new records in the number of people who are testing positive in the Dallas-Fort Worth area," the post from the shop chairperson read.GM and the UAW hierarchy&nbsp;are&nbsp;aware of the request and both are working with the local leadership.&nbsp;“Health and safety is our primary concern at UAW," said Brian Rothenberg, UAW spokesman. "We have a team of people now reaching out to the local to work with them on their safety concerns and to work with the company on addressing those concerns.”The UAW does not have the ability to shut down a factory; the company has to make that call.&nbsp;Rothenberg&nbsp;said he didn't yet know how many workers at Arlington have tested positive for COVID-19 and GM does not disclose that information. On June 16, the Free Press reported Arlington's first positive case.The plant&nbsp;is located in the Dallas area,&nbsp;which is a hotbed for&nbsp;coronavirus&nbsp;at the moment.&nbsp;Dallas County Health and Human Services reported&nbsp;572&nbsp;new cases&nbsp;of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the&nbsp;total count in Dallas County to 20,737,&nbsp;with&nbsp;353 total deaths&nbsp;to date.&nbsp;UAW Local 276 President Terry Valenzuela told the Free Press late Monday that he did not know the exact number of plant workers to&nbsp;test&nbsp;positive for the virus, but he said he&nbsp;was mostly&nbsp;concerned with the outbreak in the state and the risk that posed to his members who could contract it&nbsp;and bring it into the plant.&nbsp;"It’s all over the news, it’s no secret, the numbers in the state are overwhelming again. That’s a concern," Valenzuela said. "Personally, I think the state of Texas opened up too soon."GM builds its highly profitable Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban full-size SUVs at Arlington. It is the most profitable plant in the country, said John McElroy,&nbsp;host at Autoline.tv.&nbsp;A spokesman for GM&nbsp;told the Free Press that&nbsp;there have been no changes to GM's&nbsp;production plans at Arlington for the moment. But GM will have&nbsp;a dialogue with the local leadership, said spokesman Jim Cain, adding, "We’re always open to talking about safety and doing what we can to improve our processes. But what’s always going to guide us is what’s scientific&nbsp;and medically the right thing to do.”He said&nbsp;GM's&nbsp;safety protocols are working in the plant because many of the same steps followed&nbsp;there also help keep people safe even when they’re not working,&nbsp;thereby further protecting them when they return to the job. Those include&nbsp;staying&nbsp;home if you’re not well, social distancing, frequent hand washing and the use of masks, Cain said. &nbsp;If workers test positive, no matter where they are thought to have picked up the illness,&nbsp;GM addresses it inside the plant, Cain&nbsp;said, with intense&nbsp;cleaning, screening body temperatures, testing, eye and face protection&nbsp;and social distancing. GM also traces any contact to other workers and quarantines them for 14 days, therefore, "there&nbsp;is no need to stop production," Cain said.&nbsp;"We have the ability to test workers in the plant versus sending them to an outside facility," Cain said, adding that the&nbsp;other safety processes&nbsp;provide multiple layers of protection if someone who is carrying the virus makes it through the&nbsp;screening and temperature checks.&nbsp;If someone has come in close contact with a COVID-positive person, that’s when quarantining takes place.But at Arlington,&nbsp;Local 276 said on its website&nbsp;"there&nbsp;have been a lot of questions and concerns around COVID since all shifts returned."A June 24 post&nbsp;reads, "There have been multiple scenarios and the processes are changing daily as the Shop Committee is trying to address each issue as we receive them. As most of you know, your Shop Committee, except for Jim Robinson, has been quarantined as of 6/19/20 — 7/2/20. This is not a rumor and was not intentionally kept a secret. A member of the Shop Committee tested positive and, as a precaution, other members of the Committee were placed on quarantine."Earlier this month, Local 276 Shop Chairman Ken Hines&nbsp;told the Free Press he worried about the plant remaining open&nbsp;as Dallas saw coronavirus cases proliferate.&nbsp;He indicated then a desire for&nbsp;GM to idle&nbsp;the plant until coronavirus cases in Dallas recede. Short of that, he wanted&nbsp;GM to scale back production&nbsp;so there are fewer people in the plant, mitigating the risk of passing the virus."I know we have a job to do — we’re considered essential workers in manufacturing — but if it’s not a nurse or something like that, I don’t believe anyone needs to be at work right now," Hines told the Free Press on June 16. "We&nbsp;don’t have this virus&nbsp;under control as a nation."More:More:Days earlier, on June 12,&nbsp;UAW Local 2250 President Glenn Kage said he had asked GM to shut down&nbsp;the Wentzville Assembly plant, about 40 miles from St. Louis,&nbsp;for 14 days because of five cases of workers with&nbsp;coronavirus. GM declined to do so.Instead, GM made some changes to improve&nbsp;safety protocols at the plant, which&nbsp;builds midsize pickups and full-size vans, and trace whether there has been&nbsp;any spread of coronavirus, Kage said.&nbsp;Kage did not return recent calls for an update on the number of cases at the plant.

Detroit Free Press The local union at one of General Motors&nbsp;largest plants has asked the company to shut&nbsp;it down&nbsp;because of&nbsp;a growing outbreak of coronavirus cases in the area.UAW Local 276, representing the nearly 5,000 workers at GM's Arlington Assembly plant in Texas, notified members that it made the request to the company Monday in&nbsp;a notice that also was&nbsp;posted on the Tuesday morning."Due to the most recent data on the COVID-19 outbreak, the Bargaining Committee has asked General Motors to shut down Arlington Assembly until the curve is flattened for the...

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Jamie L. LaReau

The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primarily serves Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw, and Monroe counties.  The Free Press is also the largest city newspaper owned by Gannett, which also publishes USA Today. The Free Press has received ten Pulitzer Prizes and four Emmy Awards. Its motto is "On Guard for 189 Years".

UAW local requests shutdown of major GM plant in Texas

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