As the auto industry moves closer to a potential restart amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic, worker health and safety remain key concerns.
UAW President Rory Gamble indicated as much last week when he said an early May production restart is too soon, and said not enough testing had been done to understand the threat from the deadly virus.
Among the unknowns created by the COVID-19 outbreak is why more UAW-represented Fiat Chrysler Automobiles workers have been reported dead than those at Ford or General Motors. In fact, the UAW has not reported any deaths of workers employed by GM, although it did confirm to the Free Press that an Aramark janitorial employee who worked at the GM Tech Center in Warren died this month.
The Free Press asked numerous medical and industry experts, including Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the doctor credited with helping raise the alarm over Flint’s lead-poisoned water, to weigh in on what might explain the difference.
Figuring out why more workers connected to one company have died during the pandemic is an exercise with many pitfalls because data is lacking, and it’s not clear where the individuals caught the virus, or even how many workers have been infected. The UAW has confirmed the deaths of more than two dozen workers connected to the Detroit Three, although manufacturing plants have been shut down since March. FCA accounts for 15 of those individuals (plus one nonunion worker at the company’s U.S. headquarters), Ford for eight and GM’s vendor for one.
Still, autoworker deaths represent a fraction of total fatalities. Michigan alone had more than 3,000 deaths attributed to the virus as of Friday.
Location of workers
With Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties representing the epicenter of Michigan’s coronavirus outbreak, the location of plants seems an obvious place to start. FCA’s heavy presence in the immediate area — the vast majority of those who have died were affiliated with plants in the three counties — would perhaps offer one possible explanation.
“I think the most likely possibility is that GM doesn't have as many employees in southeast Michigan. Chrysler has an assembly plant in Detroit. The GM (Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly) plant is closed. By the time the virus got to GM employees in Flint, Saginaw and Lansing, the state had started to shut down,” Hanna-Attisha said.
“In some respects, metro Detroit took a hit for the entire state and thus the metro Detroit plants and those respective employees will be the hardest hit. The rest of the state shut down after Detroit was hit and were then able to prevent future spread. The timing of the shutdown was crucial in future infections — one day sooner, more lives could have been saved.”
Plant setup and protocols
Other factors to consider relate to the plants themselves, such as the density of workers, cleaning practices in plants, shared lunch and eating spaces, whether there is a culture of working while sick and the accessibility of hand-washing stations.
“All of these things can play a role in who got infected and who didn't and how fast something spreads,” said Hanna-Attisha, who had her own battle with the coronavirus.
Because testing and contact tracing have been limited, it’s impossible to quantify who was infected and who wasn’t.
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Employee demographics
Julia Heck, an adjunct associate professor at the UCLA School of Public Health, pointed to several factors as considerations, including demographics and whether those working at various plants differ in average ages, the ratio of male and female workers and the racial and ethnic background of workers.
FCA’s links to Italy, which had one of the world’s worst outbreaks, is another possible area of connection.
When asked whether its FCA department head, Cindy Estrada, would address the topic, the UAW provided a statement:
“The UAW is monitoring very closely the health and safety impacts to our members in our plants. We continue to work with the companies to make sure that health and safety protocols will protect our brothers and sisters. We mourn the loss of all that are passed from this disease and the impact on their family, friends and coworkers. And we continue to look at the scientific data as it becomes available on what has happened. But it is premature to reach any conclusion while more information becomes available.”
FCA noted the toll that the disease has taken:
“FCA has not been spared from the very personal impact of COVID-19. It is with deep sadness that we remember those we have lost to this pandemic. During this difficult time, our thoughts are with them and their families. This disease has profoundly affected the metro Detroit community where so many of our employees live and work. We continue to make the health and well-being of our employees a top priority as we prepare to restart our operations."
Ford said it isn't responsible to speculate on where or how employees contracted the virus, and the company highlighted its efforts:
"Ford has been following a strict protocol regarding individuals that have COVID-19: thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing our facilities, alerting those who may have had direct contact with someone that has COVID-19 and instructing them to self-quarantine for 14 days and seek medical attention if they experience symptoms. We continue working closely with the UAW on initiatives to keep our workforce safe when we do restart our plants."
Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in labor issues, noted that even though one can’t connect coronavirus infections to auto plants, that doesn’t mean those workplaces aren't a factor.
“The fact that you can’t attribute it definitely to the workplace is not an all-clear,” Shaiken said. “What this does underscore is the urgency of having effective testing that is quick and contact tracing, so you can immediately trace where this is coming from.”
Because of the range of potential factors at work, it’s crucial to make the process conclusive, not just for those who have been infected but also to avoid future infections, he said.
The uncertainty should also call into question any short-term plans for a restart, Shaiken said.
“A premature restart could be the most costly alternative in the long run in dollars and cents as well as illness and human life,” he said.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.
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