Travis Watkins, chair of an Auto Workers (UAW) bargaining unit in Wyoming, Michigan was fired March 18. The charge was violating Shop Rule #2: “Assaulting, fighting, threatening, intimidating, coercing, or interfering with employees or supervision.”
Turns out the “interfering” was hindering management’s desire not to tell workers about coworkers sent home for possibly coming down with the coronavirus.
Watkins, a mechanic, works at a General Motors Components Holdings complex that makes parts for GM, Toyota, and John Deere. His employer is a contractor, Caravan Facilities Management, which does work outsourced by GM.
On the morning of March 16, as the coronavirus was spreading throughout Michigan, the joint safety meeting between management and UAW focused on what to do about the virus. Watkins insisted that if members were to be involved with clean-up, they needed proper sanitation training and personal protective equipment. At that point management was not handing out face masks or gloves.
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