OMAHA, Neb. – U.S. factories have been collecting goods during much of the pandemic at rates that are very close to normal. However, manufacturers are concerned that they may not be able to keep up until most of the country is vaccinated as the coronavirus continues to rise in areas where many plants are established.
Protections put in place after the first wave of the virus appeared to have prevented the major incidents that caused hundreds of workers and forced producers, meat processors and other businesses halted production last spring. But with the country’s COVID-19 death toll rising to 300,000 and the virus spreading in communities surrounding the plants, industry officials and unions say it may be impossible to keep the virus alive. out of factories.
“We are seeing an increase in the number of advanced (test) rates as you see in the surrounding communities,” said Gary Johnson, chief manufacturing officer at Ford Motor Co., which has approximately 56,000 people. hourly factory work across the country.
Federal Reserve statistics show that U.S. industrial production is about 5% below levels in February, before the pandemic struck. It fell 16.5% between February and April but has since declined, led by car manufacturing.
Beef and pig production have been running slightly below last year’s levels, said Iowa State University agricultural economist Lee Schulz.
But with it many months before many people get the vaccine, factories will still be vulnerable.
“Even though we are doing well now, this virus can spread rapidly in areas,” said Mark Lauritsen, director of the food processing and meat packaging division for the International Food Workers’ Union. and United Trade. “I worry every day that this virus will spread in one of our plants again, even with all the warnings we have taken. ”
At automotive plants and factories in other industries where the United Auto Workers union represents workers, things have gone up a bit since around Halloween, but almost all have been found alongside outside the plants, said UAW President Rory Gamble.
Since it opened in May after an eight-week closure, three workers from Fiat Chrysler factories near Detroit have died from the virus, raising fears among thousands of workers.
Gamble said much of the fear came from misinformation about workers catching the virus in factories, which is not true.
“They need to have a complete understanding that we are doing what we can to keep them safe,” Gamble said. “Because they have a right to be scared.”
The figures on the impact of the pandemic on the meat packaging industry provide ample cause for concern. The UFCW union, which represents about 80% of the country ‘s beef and pig workers and 33% of chicken workers, estimates that at least 19,800 meat packing workers are employed. be infectious or open and 128 have died of COVID-19.
Staff such as Donald Nix, who works at Tyson Foods’ pig processing center in Waterloo, Iowa, are raving about the virus that spread it for 27 days in the spring with fever, body aches and headaches.
Nix, 51, is worried because colleagues are keeping sick. In the spring, more than 1,000 of the plant’s 2,800 workers were captured and at least six died. “My workplace is still at high risk. My work is still at high risk, ”he said.
But meat industry giants – Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods, JBS and Cargill – insist the safety measures put in place following last year’s major events have allowed them to spread restrict the virus.
“We have invested in personal protective equipment, social distance protection, and other health and safety measures in our industry. We have seen a significant reduction in operational issues involving our team members since last spring, ”Tyson Chief Executive Dean Banks told investors.
Measures include pre-work fitness questionnaires, temperature checks, plastic screens between workstations, further cleaning of the plants, randomized testing, and the necessary use of masks and other protective equipment. The industry spent about $ 2.5 billion on these improvements and paid extra for workers in the first six months, said Will Sawyer, a protein economist at Cobank, an agricultural bank.
At Ford, factories operate at about 98% of pre-pandemic production. Most workers who have symptoms or have been exposed to the virus stay home until the risk of infecting others is over, limiting their spread in the plants, said Johnson. The automaker hires temporary workers to take their place, allowing assembly lines to continue to operate.
Automation and meat packaging companies say that on average less than 1% of their employees catch the virus. Automakers and the UAW are urging workers to wear masks in public outside the plants.
Members of the UAW, which represents 150,000 employees employed by General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler, said the companies have largely adhered to their measures and protocols.
“I know people who have received it and confirmed it positively, but as far as I know, they are doing what they ought to quarantine and test people,” said Andrea Repasky. forklift operator at a factory GM pickup truck in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
People she passes at the plant always wear protective gear properly, she said. Regulators post how many people are positive about each move, and the numbers have been relatively small, even with a slight increase after Thanksgiving Day, she said.
Ford, General Motors, Toyota and others are beginning to see minor problems with smaller parts companies trying to close factories due to virus outbreaks or government restrictions, particularly in Mexico. Ford’s Johnson said a shortage of truck drivers is affecting parts delivery. The company has lined goods just in time to get parts to keep plants going, he said.
Ford had to delay making its new Bronco SUV from spring to summer due to a shortage of virus-related parts that the company would not specify.
Toyota said it has come close to stopping assembly lines due to a lack of parts, but so far it has avoided it.
“There have definitely been a number of calls,” said spokesman Scott Vazin. “Any day, we have up to 10 parts that we keep a close eye on for a red alert. ”
Lauritsen at UFCW said he hopes the industry will continue to work hard to limit the spread of the virus.
“We can’t be complacent just because things seem to be going right now,” Lauritsen said. “We know that plants of any kind – whenever people come together in large groups – can become a major spread of this virus.”
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Krisher reported from Detroit.
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