Election Day is a negotiated day off in the UAW’s 2023 national contract with the Detroit Three automakers, creating a company holiday Tuesday so employees can make it to the polls.
Salaried workers also get the day off, but at General Motors, spokesman Kevin Kelly said, “We are exploring running some voluntary shifts at a few plants.”
Seeking volunteers is not new, Kelly said, noting GM has done it on past Election Days. He declined to specify which plants may run Tuesday.
At Ford Motor Co., spokeswoman Jessica Enoch told the Free Press, “Ford’s U.S. manufacturing facilities will not run production on Election Day, with the exception of Kentucky Truck Plant, which will run with voluntary overtime. Federal Election Day is a holiday for Ford’s U.S. salaried employees.”
She said Ford has honored Election Day as a holiday since 1999.
At Stellantis, spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said the down day will have “no impact to operations outside the U.S.” The company did not say whether the automaker is seeking volunteers to keep some production going.
But a down day might help, given that Stellantis, which makes Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Fiat brands, has been struggling to manage its inventory levels, particularly in the United States in recent months. It has paused or adjusted production at various plants in response.
Employers are not legally required to provide time off so employees can cast their ballots, but a growing number of companies are offering paid time off to do so. According to Time to Vote, a business-led, nonpartisan group working to get people to the polls, about 2,020 companies have pledged to give their employees at least a few hours off Tuesday to vote.
According to an article this week by the Society for Human Resource Management, for the first time, furniture company Ikea will give its employees who work 20 hours a week or more two hours of paid time off Tuesday to vote.
Public support has grown over the years for companies to ensure that employees have time off to vote. Earlier this year, a survey from the Pew Research Center found that 72% of U.S. citizens supported making Election Day a national holiday. That is up from 65% in 2018. It found that 78% of Democrats and 68% of Republicans favor it.
More: Workers at GM pickup plant authorize strike over managers working assembly line
More: Stellantis to close Arizona Proving Grounds and sell the property
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: detroit three automakers election day holiday volunteers
