TOLEDO, Ohio — A few hundred UAW-represented employees at the north Toledo Jeep plant approached their union head's office during their break on Wednesday, asking for better options in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, according to sources WTOL 11 spoke to.
After discussing the issue, they say they returned to their work stations but didn't touch any equipment or vehicles, essentially staging a sit-in.
"The CDC came out and said that no more than 10 people can be together. Well, we've got 6,000 people together. The CDC came out and said that you have to be at least six feet apart when you're meeting somebody. We've got three or four people jammed into a three or four-foot area," UAW Local 12 president Bruce Baumhower said.
"Basically, on top of each other while we're doing our jobs and from everything that the CDC and everyone else has been saying, that's not what we're supposed to be doing," Jeep employee Mike Mondragon added.
WTOL 11 learned that ultimately, plant leaders sent these employees home.
While many measures across Michigan and Ohio have been adopted in order to prevent the spread of the virus, including statewide dine-in restaurant and bar ban, suspending K-12 classes, and closing many businesses such as fitness centers and bowling alleys, factory workers in both states are still reporting for work.
"None of us want to have to take the time off and lose the money but safety comes first. We don't want to infect our family or somebody else," Jeep employee Phill Reiter said.
Baumhower said factories like this one are closed indefinitely. It's still unclear how long these factories will be closed. He added that these Jeep employees will be laid off, meaning they would be able to collect unemployment.
And it's not just Jeep in Toledo. All of Detroit's big three automakers have agreed to close all North American factories due to workers' fears about the coronavirus.