News Story

House subcommittee investigates COVID exodus policy held by U-M

University of Maryland gets congressional letter for its 5-day dorm exile, which University of Michigan follows

A U.S. House subcommittee is investigating a University of Maryland COVID-19 policy that the University of Michigan also follows. At both universities, COVID-positive students living on campus are required to leave for five days.

These students must leave campus at their own expense, potentially resulting in a costly hotel stay.

The University of Michigan has defended its policy in the past, with a spokeswoman telling CapCon that “isolation and quarantine are standard practices for preventing the transmission of many infectious diseases including COVID-19, measles, tuberculosis, and many others.”

Read it for yourself: The letter to University of Maryland regarding COVID quarantine and COVID aid

A portion of the subcommittee’s Oct. 13 letter to University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines reads:

According to public reports, Maryland is removing students who test positive for COVID-19 from their dorms without providing temporary housing accommodations and sending them to their “permanent” homes—likely with their older, more at-risk, parents. In other cases, students—as mandated by the Directive—are required to isolate at a nearby hotel. Presumably, it’s the students’ parents—not your university—that are footing the bill, which begs the question of how Maryland spent the federal Coronavirus dollars it received.

“Throughout the pandemic, it became increasingly clear that the nature of the threat had changed,” the letter continues. “Unlike older populations and those medically compromised, children and young adults were less likely to suffer severe illness as a result of COVID-19.”

The letter notes that the University of Maryland received $115 million in COVID stimulus funds, and it asks how the university spent the money and whether it picks up the hotel tab for students who must leave.

“This likely counterproductive directive will clearly burden and harm students’ education and mental health,” the letter reads. “This is highly concerning and requires further investigation.” The letter ends by noting the subcommittee’s mandate.

“The Select Subcommittee is authorized to investigate ‘the efficacy, effectiveness, and transparency of the use of taxpayer funds and relief programs to address the coronavirus pandemic, including reports of waste, fraud, or abuse’ under H. Res. 5,” the letter reads.

Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, chair of the subcommittee, sent the letter, along with eight colleagues. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, sits on the subcommittee but did not sign the letter.

The subcommittee has requested a staff-level briefing as the investigation begins.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.

News Story

Prolonged UAW strike will ‘collapse’ supply chains, Ford chair warns

Strike at Kentucky Truck Plant could have ripples throughout economy, Ford said

Ford Motor Co. chairman Bill Ford said Monday that the company’s supply base “will start collapsing” with a prolonged strike by the United Auto Workers union.

The UAW’s targeted, facility-by-facility “stand up” strike started a month ago, on Sept. 15. It has continued to expand ever since, and last week the 8,700 UAW members at the Kentucky Truck Plant walked off the job. That plant builds some of Ford’s most popular trucks and SUVs, and its products generate $25 billion in revenue annually.

Bill Ford spoke for about 10 minutes from Ford’s Rouge plant in Dearborn, where the company is headquartered.

Watch the video here:

“A strong manufacturing base is critical to our national security,” Ford said “Building things in America matters now more than ever, especially in these uncertain times. And we can't take that for granted.”

Ford expressed disappointment at the tenor of negotiations with the UAW. A UAW official sent messages on company channels urging “reputation damage” would come to automakers too slow to negotiate, as reported by The Detroit News. When workers at the Kentucky Truck Plant joined the strike last week, Ford mentioned those statements.

“This should not be Ford versus the UAW,” Ford said. “This should be Ford and the UAW versus Toyota, Honda, Tesla, and all the Chinese companies that want to enter our home market. Toyota, Honda, Tesla and the others are loving this strike because they know the longer it goes on, the better it is for them. They will win and all of us will lose.”

UAW President Shawn Fain disagreed with Ford’s framing.

“It’s not the UAW and Ford against foreign automakers,” Fain said, in remarks published by Detroit News reporter Jordan Grzelewski. “It’s autoworkers everywhere against corporate greed.”

Ford warned that an extended strike would challenge supply chains not only at the automaker, but throughout the economy.

“Shutting down that plant harms tens of thousands of Americans right away,” Ford said of the Kentucky plant. “Workers, suppliers and dealers alike. It hurts the communities that depend on these local economies. If it continues, it will have a major impact on the American economy and devastate local communities. The supply base is very fragile, and will start collapsing with an expanded strike. But it doesn't have to go that way.”

Fain said his goal is to expand the union’s membership base.

“Workers at Tesla, Toyota, Honda and others are not the enemy — they’re the UAW members of the future,” Fain said.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.