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GM, Ford, FCA and the UAW form joint coronavirus task force

General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler are forming a coronavirus task force along with the United Auto Workers union to improve protections for their employees and limit the spread of the highly contagious virus. The task force, which would be focusing on areas including vehicle production plans, is being headed by UAW President Rory Gamble, GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra, Ford CEO Jim Hackett, Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford and FCA CEO Michael Manley, the parties said in a joint statement on Sunday. Though automakers typically schedule plant staffing to allow for a certain proportion of absent workers, according to industry consultants, if the outbreak causes higher levels due to infection or workers staying home to care for children whose schools are closed, that could lead to reduced production or in extreme cases shutdowns. Production at an FCA assembly plant in Canada was halted for 24 hours after employees there refused to work on Thursday over fears of an employee being possibly exposed to the coronavirus. Separately on Thursday, the Italian-American automaker said that one of its employees had tested positive for COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, at its transmission plant in Indiana. The plant, however, remained open. "This is a fluid and unprecedented situation, and the task force will move quickly to build on the wide-ranging preventive measures we have put in place," the CEOs of the three companies said in the statement. The task force would also be focusing on aspects such as health and safety education, health screening, food service at the automakers' locations. Related Video: Government/Legal Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Chrysler Fiat Ford GM coronavirus

Ford hires Wall Street analyst to head global strategy

Ford has hired auto industry veteran John Casesa, 52, as the company's group vice president of global strategy, effective March 1. His job is to oversee worldwide business development and have input on investments in future products and technologies. Casesa reports directly to Ford president and CEO Mark Fields. "John knows business and the auto industry inside and out. His deep experience and relationships will help guide and shape our global strategies – particularly as we challenge today's business model and push to innovate to make us even stronger tomorrow," Fields said in a statement. Casesa has spent much of his career in some facet of the automotive business, and one of his biggest contributions was as the original author of the Car Wars forecasting report in 1991. Since 2010, he has been senior managing director of Guggenheim Partners, responsible for the company's auto investments. Before that, he was an industry analyst for 20 years, including for Merrill Lynch. Casesa has also been a product planning analyst for General Motors. In addition to his understanding of the car-making business, he understands selling them, and was the co-owner of showrooms in the Northeast previously. FORD HIRES JOHN CASESA TO LEAD GLOBAL STRATEGY Auto analyst and investment banker John Casesa joins Ford as group vice president, Global Strategy Casesa will lead a team focused on enhancing existing business strategies and identifying and evaluating new opportunities for profitable growth DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 17, 2014 – Ford Motor Company today announces the hiring of long-time auto analyst and investment banker John Casesa as group vice president, Global Strategy as part of the company's commitment to accelerate its One Ford plan, deliver product excellence and drive innovation in every part of the business. Reporting to Ford President and CEO Mark Fields, Casesa, 52, will be the most senior leader and corporate officer overseeing global strategy and business development. The appointment is effective March 1, 2015. Casesa will work with the company's business unit and skill team leaders to enhance existing business strategies and to identify and evaluate new opportunities leading to profitable growth. His work will be integrated into Ford's current process for driving results, which includes constantly understanding the changing environment and continuously improving its plans. "Ford is a growth company in a dramatically growing global industry.

Ford, Stellantis workers join those at GM in ratifying contract that ended UAW strikes

DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union overwhelmingly ratified new contracts with Ford and Stellantis, that along with a similar deal with General Motors will raise pay across the industry, force automakers to absorb higher costs and help reshape the auto business as it shifts away from gasoline-fueled vehicles. Workers at Stellantis, the maker of Jeep, Dodge and Ram vehicles, voted 68.8% in favor of the deal. Their approval brought to a close a contentious labor dispute that included name-calling and a series of punishing strikes that imposed high costs on the companies and led to significant gains in pay and benefits for UAW workers. The deal at Stellantis passed by a roughly 10,000 vote margin, with ballot counts ending Saturday afternoon. Workers at Ford voted 69.3% in favor of the pact, which passed with nearly a 15,000-vote margin in balloting that ended early Saturday. Earlier this week, GM workers narrowly approved a similar contract. The agreements, which run through April 2028, will end contentious talks that began last summer and led to six-week-long strikes at all three automakers. Shawn Fain, the pugnacious new UAW leader, had branded the companies enemies of the UAW who were led by overpaid CEOs, declaring the days of union cooperation with the automakers were over. After summerlong negotiations failed to produce a deal, Fain kicked off strikes on Sept. 15 at one assembly plant at each company. The union later extended the strike to parts warehouses and other factories to try to intensify pressure on the automakers until tentative agreements were reached late in October. The new contract agreements were widely seen as a victory for the UAW. The companies agreed to dramatically raise pay for top-scale assembly plant workers, with increases and cost-of-living adjustments that would translate into 33% wage gains. Top assembly plant workers are to receive immediate 11% raises and will earn roughly $42 an hour when the contracts expire in April of 2028. Under the agreements, the automakers also ended many of the multiple tiers of wages they had used to pay different workers. They also agreed in principle to bring new electric-vehicle battery plants into the national union contract. This provision will give the UAW an opportunity to unionize the EV battery plants plants, which will represent a rising share of industry jobs in the years ahead.