COVID-19 Update - 3/27/2020
My Brothers and Sisters,
As always, I want to recognize and thank all of the brave men and women on the front lines of this crisis and extend my sincere sympathies to any one of us who is sick, or struggling with family or financial issues or loss in these difficult, dark days.
In my message today, I want to report that we got some good news on several fronts.
Let me start with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that the House passed this afternoon and was just signed into law. The COVID-19 relief legislation will help provide financial assistance to millions of hard-working Americans during this difficult time. It was not an easy fight, let me tell you. We recognized early on that workers and our nation's health needed to be prioritized, so we stood up and made our voices heard in the halls of Congress, and we prevailed. And as a result, this $2-trillion bill will provide expanded unemployment (UI) benefits and a one-time payment to individuals and families, a lifeline for millions of hard-working Americans. The act also provides emergency federal funding for food aid, hospitals, schools and universities. Details here, https://uaw.org/senate-passes-cv3-heres-means. Much more needs to be done to safeguard this country and our friends, families and communities. We continue to push for more workplace safety standards, and more critically-needed help for our frontline workers.
We announced today that the UAW GM department is collaborating with General Motors towards the production of critically needed ventilators. This is part of so many efforts going on across our union and with brothers and sisters across our nation to help all of us fight this terrible virus.
FCA announced today that they are in the process of converting their first plant to produce face masks for donation to first responders and health care workers. They are also working to help provide more than 1 million meals to school age children in the communities around their principal manufacturing plants in Illinois; Indiana; Michigan and Ohio. The program begins immediately and will be expanded nationwide in the U.S. and to Canada and Mexico.
Please know that your UAW leaders continue to work around the clock to protect our members and our communities during this global crisis. As always, I want to urge us all to stay safe, stay calm and adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV.
You can find updates for members and submit questions that you might have about your worksite at UAW (https://uaw.org/coronavirus/).
Brothers and sisters, please be safe. Please support one another. My prayers, every day, are with my UAW family. We are in this together.
In solidarity,
Rory L. Gamble