United Auto Workers
FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2015, file photo Ray Curry, a regional director of the United Auto Workers, speaks in Chattanooga, Tenn. On Monday, June 28, 2021, Curry was elected president of the union. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File)
New UAW president will face huge post-pandemic challenges

By Tom Krisher Jun. 28, 2021 03:31 PM EDT

FILE - In this May 18, 2021 file photo, Rory Gamble, President of United Auto Workers, speaks at the Ford Rouge EV Center in Dearborn, Mich. Gamble, who led the union through a corruption scandal and the coronavirus pandemic, is retiring effective June 30. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Rory Gamble, who led UAW through scandal, pandemic, retires

By Tom Krisher Jun. 25, 2021 01:37 PM EDT

FILE - In this June 24, 2019, file photo machines work on a Ford vehicle assembly line at Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant in Chicago. Don’t ditch those masks yet, autoworkers. A task force made up of union and car company officials said, Wednesday, May 19, 2021 it will continue to require workers to wear masks on the job “out of an abundance of caution.” The task force, represented by officials from United Auto Workers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis said the mask requirement will remain in place until the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issues guidelines in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent change in COVID-19 workplace standards. (AP Photo/Amr Alfiky, File)
Automakers, union tell workers to keep wearing masks at work

By Matt Ott May. 19, 2021 02:08 PM EDT

Emergency Room technicians test patients for Covid-19 outside of the emergency entrance of Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe, Mich., Thursday, April 15, 2021. A doctor at Michigan’s largest hospital system says the spread of COVID-19 in suburban Detroit is like a “runaway train.” Beaumont has eight hospitals in southeastern Michigan. (Junfu Han/Detroit Free Press via AP)
AP source: Virus surge in Michigan slows Ram truck plant

By Tom Krisher Apr. 16, 2021 03:46 PM EDT

The exterior of the General Motors Toledo Transmission Operations facility is shown in Toledo, Ohio, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. When General Motors boldly announced its goal last month to make only battery-powered vehicles by 2035, it didn’t just mark a break with more than a century of making internal combustion engines. It also clouded the future for 50,000 GM workers whose skills — and jobs — could become obsolete far sooner than they knew. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Autoworkers face uncertain future in an era of electric cars

By Tom Krisher And John Seewer Feb. 11, 2021 10:55 AM EST

This May 20, 2020, photo provided by Smithfield Foods shows some of the measures the company says it has taken to limit the spread of the coronavirus inside its plants. Workers inside its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, pork processing plant wear protective gear and are separated by plastic partitions as they carve up meat. (Photo courtesy Smithfield Foods via AP)
US plants hope to maintain production despite virus threat

By Josh Funk And Tom Krisher Dec. 25, 2020 10:17 AM EST

FILE - In this June 17, 2020, file photo, United Auto Workers Vice President Joe Ashton addresses the autoworker's convention in Detroit. Ashton, a former United Auto Workers vice president who took a $250,000 kickback on a watch contract was sentenced Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, to 2 1/2 years in prison, the latest punishment in what the government calls "systemic" corruption at the highest ranks of the union. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
Former UAW exec gets 2 1/2 years in prison for kickback

By Ed White Nov. 17, 2020 02:47 PM EST

In this image from video, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. (Democratic National Convention via AP)
Whitmer touts Biden for auto rescue, rips Trump on virus

By David Eggert Aug. 17, 2020 10:05 PM EDT

FILE - In this July 16, 2019, file photo, General Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra speaks during the opening of GM's contract talks with the United Auto Workers in Detroit. A federal judge took a remarkable step Tuesday, June 23, 2020, by ordering the CEOs of General Motors and Fiat Chrysler to meet and settle a lawsuit over whether one company got a competitive edge over the other when union leaders were showered with cash and other perks. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Judge orders GM, Fiat Chrysler CEOs to meet, settle lawsuit

By Ed White Jun. 23, 2020 05:45 PM EDT

Update on the latest in business:

Jun. 15, 2020 01:23 PM EDT
FINANCIAL MARKETS Stocks recover from earlier losses NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks have rebounded at midday after opening...

In this Sept. 27, 2018 file photo, robots weld the bed of a 2018 Ford F-150 truck on the assembly line at the Ford Rouge assembly plant in Dearborn, Mich. The U.S. auto industry’s coronavirus comeback plan was pretty simple: restart factories gradually and push out trucks and other vehicles for waiting buyers in states left largely untouched by the virus outbreak. Yet the return from a two-month production shutdown hasn’t gone quite according to plan. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
Infected workers, parts shortages slow auto factory restarts

By Tom Krisher May. 30, 2020 01:32 PM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2019 file photo, Jeep vehicles are parked outside the Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit. Major U.S. automakers are planning to reopen North American factories within two weeks, potentially putting thousands of workers back on the assembly line, as part of a gradual return to normality. Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley said Tuesday, May 5, 2020, his company plans to start reopening factories May 18 depending on easing of government restrictions. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
Detroit automakers push for restart of plants within 2 weeks

By Tom Krisher And Colleen Barry May. 05, 2020 09:44 AM EDT

CORRECTS TO 15% TO $34.3 BILLION NOT NEARLY 16% TO $31.3 BILLION FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2019, file photo, the company logo stands over a long row of unsold vehicles at a Ford dealership in Littleton, Colo. Ford Motor Co. posted a $2 billion first-quarter net loss, blaming nearly all of it on the negative effects of the coronavirus. The automaker said Tuesday, April 28, 2020 that its revenue from January through March fell nearly 15% to $34.3 billion as most of its factories were shut down for the final week of the quarter. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Ford posts $2B 1Q loss blamed largely on coronavirus

By Tom Krisher Apr. 28, 2020 05:32 PM EDT

In this Wednesday, April 22, 2020, photo, rooms at ibis style's hotel in Vung Tau, Vietnam, are lit up, forming a heart shape to support the country unity in the fight against COVID-19. The world inched toward a new phase in the coronavirus crisis on Thursday, as some countries like Vietnam and New Zealand with few new cases moved toward ending their shutdowns while others like Singapore and Japan were tightening measures to prevent a surge in infections. (AP Photo/Thanh Tu)
UAW balks at quick auto plant restart; retailers morphing

By The Associated Press Apr. 23, 2020 11:30 AM EDT

FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2019, file photo workers assemble Apple products at an Apple manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas. As state and federal leaders tussle over when and how fast to “reopen” the U.S. economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, some corporations are taking the first steps toward bringing their employees back to work. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)
Back to work? Companies finding it easier said than done

By Mae Anderson, Tom Krisher And Anne D'innocenzio Apr. 21, 2020 12:57 PM EDT

Ford manufactures, ships over 1 million plastic face shields

Apr. 06, 2020 11:48 AM EDT
DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. says it has manufactured and shipped over 1 million clear plastic face shields to hospitals and first responders all over the U.S...