Ford, Stellantis, and now GM again: Auto makers continue to close plants as they reel from a shortage of chips that poses a critical challenge for the sector.
Almost 60,000 Ford workers were back on the job in the U.S. on Monday. Ford head Jim Hackett says the company's factories "create the distance that we're going to need for this to work well."
The ventilators will be delivered to the national stockpile by August. The contract, worth nearly $500 million, is the first ventilator order placed using the Defense Production Act.
General Motors has already started working with a ventilator company, Ventec, to help it expand production of the essential medical equipment. Now it might start building the devices itself.
The UAW, the autoworker's union, had been pushing for a two-week shutdown because of worker concerns. Plants will be shut down at least through March 30.
In the early 2000s, the Hummer was a symbol of gas-guzzling militaristic excess. Now it's getting revived as an electric pickup. It's one sign of how much things have changed in the auto industry.
The two companies expect to create more than 1,100 jobs in northeast Ohio. The new plant will be built near GM's Lordstown facility that was shuttered earlier this year.
Jones has been the target of a federal probe of alleged corruption in the UAW. The union is also linked to an alleged bribery scheme, according to a lawsuit filed by GM against rival Fiat Chrysler.
On Friday, the United Auto Workers and its nearly 50,000 GM employees signaled an end to the six-week stalemate, voting to OK a deal that the labor union struck with the automaker earlier this month.
Unions and their supporters around the country are assessing whether the United Auto Workers strike against General Motors is a sign of renewed labor power.
As negotiations continue between the automaker and the union, workers express what motivates them to join the picket line. "One fight, we all fight," one worker says.
General Motors and the United Auto Workers sit down soon to negotiate a new contract. Recession fears and slowing sales are concerns, along with allegations of corruption among UAW leaders.
Angered by General Motors' decision to idle plants and lay off thousands of workers, the Trump administration threatened to retaliate by withholding federal subsidies for the company's cars.
As part of a major restructuring that will prioritize GM's electric and autonomous vehicle programs, the automaker plans to cut 15 percent of its workforce to save some $6 billion by the end of 2020.
Ten years after the financial crisis, the recovery hasn't reached everywhere. After the plant at which they worked was shuttered, three members of a family saw their lives change in unexpected ways.
The automaker says its only plant in Venezuela was confiscated by public authorities. Details are murky: Multiple employees at the plant tell NPR car dealers were responsible for the plant takeover.
The Chevy Bolt can go 238 miles on a single charge and costs about $30,000, after a federal tax credit. But the clean-car industry needs government support to thrive, and that's far from certain.
Gov. Rick Snyder is facing calls for his resignation over tap water contamination in Flint. In his State of the State address on Tuesday, Snyder said he would release his emails from 2014 and 2015.
GM and the UAW kicked off contract talks Monday; Chrysler and Ford will do the same this month. Negotiations are never easy, but since industry bailouts in 2009, there's a stronger push to cooperate.
