FCA’s Jefferson North Assembly Line Halted Over COVID-19 Cases – UPDATE

2018 Dodge Durango SRT - Olivier Delorme

Three employees were recently diagnosed with the virus.
The “A Crew” shut the line down at noon yesterday, and the “B Crew” did not start it up again.
FCA and Ford resumed production just this past Monday.

UPDATE: FCA reached out to us and wanted to share a statement regarding this story:

FCA Statement Regarding Jefferson North

The health and safety of our workforce has continued to be our top priority since our plants resumed production on May 18. An employee on the day shift at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant was sent home Thursday after complaining of not feeling well. Out of an abundance of caution, the plant followed all cleaning and disinfecting protocols of the employee’s work area. In addition, all of our social distancing and personal protection equipment protocols were in full use. Some employees, however, stopped working over concerns about the virus, causing a temporary pause in production. On the afternoon shift, other plant employees expressed similar concerns and stopped production. We are working with the UAW to address all workplace concerns.

Businesses and car companies are extremely eager to get back to our old “normal” which is why both Canada and the US are lifting restrictions in some areas. Despite the lockdown lasting a few months, 56% of Americans (according to an Ipsos poll shared on ABC News) think the country is moving too quickly to reopen. What took place at FCA’s Jefferson North Assembly Line yesterday could be a sign that it is too soon.

Jeep Grand Cherokee | Photo: Jeep

Day shift workers at the plant, were the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango are assembled, were sent home after employees, and not management, according to a story by the World Socialist Web Site, shut down the line. The reason for the action is that three employees, apparently one worker in engines and two workers in trim who tested positive for the Coronavirus.

A worker posted on the UAW Local 7 Facebook page the following: “Someone got sick and threw up on parts that have been distributed around the plant since 8 am. Where is our union to handle these situations? People are being threatened for refusing to work with those parts…”

Many other autoworkers explain their discontent with the way the car company and the Union are handling these incidents.

Another Facebook post from a worker reflects what many autoworkers are probably thinking: “Hope y’all shut down; we came back too early anyway they knew this could happen Greed.”