OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – US factories have been putting goods on the market during much of the pandemic at speeds remarkably close to normal. However, manufacturers are concerned that they will not be able to keep up with the pace until most of the country is vaccinated as the coronavirus continues to increase in areas where many plants are located.
Precautions taken after the first wave of the virus appear to have prevented the major outbreaks that sickened hundreds of workers last spring and forced automakers, meat processors and other companies to shut down production. But as the country’s COVID-19 death toll exceeds 300,000 and the virus is rising in the communities surrounding the factories, industry and union officials say it may be impossible to keep the virus out of the factories.
“We are seeing an increase in the number of positive (test) numbers seen in the surrounding communities,” said Gary Johnson, Chief Manufacturing Officer at Ford Motor Co., which employs approximately 56,000 factory workers per hour nationwide.
Federal Reserve statistics show that US industrial production was about 5% below February levels before the pandemic hit. It fell 16.5% between February and April, but has since rebounded, led by car production.
Beef and pork production are both just below last year’s levels, said agricultural economist Lee Schulz of Iowa State University.
But as it will take months before many people can get vaccinated, factories will remain 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 of United Food and Commercial Workers International union. “Every day I worry that this virus will explode again in one of our factories, even with all the precautions we have taken.”
At auto factories and factories in other industries where the United Auto Workers union represents workers, cases have risen slightly since Halloween, but almost all are traced outside the factories, UAW president Rory Gamble said.
Since reopening in May after an eight-week shutdown, three workers at Fiat Chrysler’s factories near Detroit have died from the virus, scaring thousands of workers.
Gamble said much of the fear stemmed from misinformation about workers contracting the virus in factories, which is not true.
“They must fully understand that we are doing everything we can to keep them safe,” said Gamble. “Because they have the right to be afraid.”
The statistics on the impact of the pandemic on the meat packaging industry are cause for concern. The UFCW union, which represents about 80% of the country’s beef and pork workers and 33% of the poultry workers, estimates that at least 19,800 meat packers have been infected or exposed and 128 died from COVID-19.
Workers like Donald Nix, who works at a Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, are concerned about the virus that sidelined him for 27 days in the spring with fever, body aches and severe headaches.
Nix, 51, is concerned because colleagues keep getting sick. In the spring, more than 1,000 of the factory’s 2,800 workers became infected and at least six died. “My workplace is still a high risk. My job is still risky, ”he said.
But the meat industry giants – Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods, JBS and Cargill – argue that the security measures taken after last spring’s major outbreaks have allowed them to limit the spread of the virus.
“We have invested substantially in personal protective equipment, social distance safety measures and other improved health and safety measures throughout our business. We’ve seen a dramatic drop in the number of active cases involving our team members since last spring, ”Tyson CEO Dean Banks recently told investors.
Measures include workplace wellness questionnaires, temperature checks, plastic screens between workstations, increased plant cleaning, random testing, and the required use of masks and other protective equipment. The industry spent about $ 2.5 billion in the first six months on those improvements and additional wages for employees, said Will Sawyer, a protein economist at Cobank, an agribusiness bank.
At Ford, factories run about 98% of their pre-pandemic production. Most workers who have symptoms or have been exposed to the virus stay at home until the danger of infecting others has passed, limiting its spread in the plants, Johnson said. The car manufacturer hires temporary workers to take their place, keeping the assembly line running.
Auto and meat packers say generally less than 1% of their workforce contract the virus. Automakers and the UAW are urging workers to wear masks in public outside the factories.
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 precautions and protocols.
“I know people who have had it and tested positive, but as far as I know they are doing what they need to do in terms of quarantining and getting people tested,” said Andrea Repasky, a forklift driver at GM’s pickup truck . factory in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
People she passes at the factory always wear proper protective gear, she said. Management indicates how many people test positive with each shift, and the numbers are relatively small, even with a small increase after Thanksgiving, she said.
Ford, General Motors, Toyota and others are starting to see minor issues with smaller parts companies having to close factories due to virus outbreaks or government restrictions, especially in Mexico. Ford’s Johnson said a shortage of truck drivers is affecting parts delivery. The company has lined up just-in-time loads to get parts to keep the factories running, he said.
Ford had to delay production of 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 almost shut down the assembly line due to a lack of parts, but so far has managed to avoid it.
“There have certainly been a few close calls,” said spokesman Scott Vazin. “Every day we have up to 10 parts that we closely monitor for red alert.”
Lauritsen of the UFCW said he hopes the industry will continue to work hard to limit the spread of the virus.
“We can’t get complacent because it now seems like things are holding up,” said Lauritsen. “We know that plants of any kind – when people come together in large groups – can act as a super-spreader of this virus.”
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Krisher reported from Detroit.
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