UAW gives its approval to Fiat Chrysler to reopen North American plants

The United Auto Workers, the union that represents U.S. hourly workers at Detroit automakers, has given its tacit approval on Tuesday for the automakers to resume production amid the coronavirus pandemic, after Fiat Chrysler stated it expected to resume its North American plants on May 18.

The United Auto Workers union has been negotiating with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), General Motors and Ford Motor regarding how and when they should resume U.S. production after widespread lockdowns aimed at reducing the spread of the coronavirus.

“We continue to advocate for as much testing (for the disease) as possible at the current time and ultimately full-testing when available,” UAW President Rory Gamble stated. “As for the start date, the companies contractually make that decision and we all knew this day would come.”

FCA stated as it reported its first-quarter results that it expected to resume its North American operations on May 18.

GM and Ford have not declared restart dates, but the Detroit companies have said before that they want to resume production so that they can start bringing in much-needed cash.

U.S. automotive production came to a halt in March following the increase in Covid-19 coronavirus cases. Since then, several U.S. states have decided to reopen their economies, the focus in the auto sector has shifted to when production it can resume without any issues.