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 General Motors Co Ford Motor Co, Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV and
the United Auto Workers union said in a joint statement they would
adopt the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
guidance allowing workers at U.S. facilities to not wear masks
regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status, if those facilities are
not in high-risk counties.
The CDC said Thursday that 93% of Americans live in counties that
are not high-risk.
Nearly all of Michigan, where the Big Three automakers have many of
their plants are in areas where the CDC has deemed it safe to take
off masks, including in the counties home to the headquarters of GM,
Ford and Stellantis North America.
Other states home to many plants like Ohio and Illinois are also
mostly deemed safe to drop masks, according to the CDC.
The Big Three, unlike some other major manufacturers, never mandated
vaccines for thousands of unionized U.S. workers.
Last fall, Ford and Stellantis both required its U.S. salaried
non-union workers to be vaccinated to seek exemptions.
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 GM, Ford and Stellantis all mandated vaccines
for all autoworkers in Canada.
In August 2021, the U.S. automakers reinstated
requirements to wear masks at all U.S. plants,
offices and warehouses after a surge in COVID
cases.
The CDC and other global public health agencies
have advised wearing masks to prevent the spread
of COVID but some have raised questions about
their efficacy. Mask mandates have been opposed
by various government officials and people who
see the mandates as a government overreach.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by
Sandra Maler and Christian Schmollinger)
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