Stocks Rebound From Monday’s Collapse: Live Markets Updates

Pressure mounted Tuesday for General Motors, Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler to close their factories, while Europe’s auto manufacturing was brought virtually at a standstill after Daimler, Ford Motor and Nissan joined Volkswagen and most other major carmakers in shutting down.

The United Automobile Workers union has called on the three Detroit carmakers to shut down manufacturing plants across the United States for two weeks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, a request the companies have so far denied.

In an email sent to U.A.W. members on Tuesday, the union’s president, Rory Gamble, said he had requested the shutdown in a meeting on Sunday with the chief executives of General Motors, Ford Motor, and Fiat Chrysler, based on the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

“Your U.A.W. leadership feels very strongly, and argued very strongly, that this is the most responsible course of action,” Mr. Gamble said in the email.

The automakers have responded by taking actions to protect workers, such as extending down time between shifts to allow for sanitizing of equipment and common areas in the plants.

Jim Cain, a G.M. spokesman, said the company was trying to keep factory workers safe while being mindful of the potential economic impact of a broad shutdown and of the hardship employees could face if they were no longer earning paychecks.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/business/stock-market-today.html