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Ford temporarily halts work at two plants due to coronavirus

Yahoo Finance's Rick Newman joins Jen Rogers and Myles Udland to discuss Ford temporarily halting work at 2 plants due to workers testing positive for coronavirus.

Video Transcript

JEN ROGERS: Welcome back to "The Final Round." So as states start reopening, people are going back to work. And what we've been talking about all the time is that there needs to be testing there. So what happens when people test positive? Well, Ford is having to deal with this very issue, and Rick Newman's been tracking it for us. Rick?

RICK NEWMAN: I think assembly lines are just going to have to deal with this as an ongoing basis, Jen. So we had a couple of shutdowns at auto factories, as you mentioned, similar to what we've seen at the meatpacking plants. And I think part of what Ford and the other auto companies are doing is they're just figuring out protocols.

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I mean, they're just going to have to figure out what do you do when somebody tests positive? Or can you maybe start doing tests in a way that you identify positive tests before anybody ever gets into the factory? It's just going to be something they have to figure out.

There was also a Ford plant closure because they couldn't get parts from another factory. And we're just going to see these cascading problems, slowdowns, shutdowns, for a bunch of different reasons for months, I think. It's going to be hard to get vehicles off the assembly line for all these reasons.

JEN ROGERS: So is this a story that we should expect to see continuing, like we're going to see it at different places?

RICK NEWMAN: I think it's going to be routine. But I also think manufacturers in the United States will probably get a pretty good at figuring out what to do about protecting their workers and keeping operations running, even if you do have these kinds of things. So I think this is going to get a lot better. I mean, we're all sort of figuring out the right way to do testing.

I mean, testing is just barely getting to the market so we can do more frequent testing at workplaces. And none of us, by the way, who don't work on assembly lines but work in office buildings-- we're going to be doing all these things too. I mean, so in a way, the manufacturers are doing us a favor by being the guinea pigs here, and figuring out how we all get back to work.

JEN ROGERS: And we have a guest coming out that's going to talk to us about some of the things that offices are doing. But just on the manufacturing front, and also, I guess, I would say in the warehouse front too, and in more blue collar areas-- do you think that this is going to lead to any resurgence for labor, for the unions to be able to work here?

RICK NEWMAN: Probably not. I mean, look at all the problems we've got. I mean, in some areas, tons of people just don't have jobs. And I'm not seeing any sort of big movement. The membership in labor unions has declined for 40 years. This is a very long term trend. I don't think coronavirus is going to change that.

We are seeing more concern over workers' rights. We're going to see this whole liability issue coming up really soon in Washington. Should businesses be protected from lawsuits if they reopen and their workers or their customers get sick? Congress is trying to figure that out right now. If they push too far and they force workers into dangerous positions, yeah, that could create more activism for worker protections. We'll see. It's possible that happens.