Workers at Amazon’s Staten Island, New York, fulfillment center walked out today to protest the company’s response to COVID-19 infections among its warehouse employees. Amazon has confirmed one case of COVID-19 at the New York facility, but workers say there have been at least 10 and that the company has failed to notify workers or properly clean the warehouse. Now, they are calling for Amazon to shut down the facility for two weeks for deep cleaning.
“The goal is to get that building shut down, and they will shut it down, because no packages, nothing gets out the building without associates,” says Derrick Palmer, who has worked at the facility, JFK8, for four and a half years. “This is a pandemic. People are literally losing their lives because of this virus. And [Amazon is] not taking this seriously. They’re not giving us our respect that we demand. We’re not going to ask for it. We’re going to demand it, because at the end of the day, we’re the heart and soul of that building, not the managers. They’re back in the office. We’re in the front lines working.”
Workers at 19 US Amazon warehouses have tested positive for COVID-19, according to local news reports. So far, Amazon has closed facilities only when forced to do so by government order or worker protest. Last week, the company indefinitely closed a returns processing warehouse in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, after three workers tested positive and the governor ordered it shuttered. On March 18th, a sortation center in Queens, New York, was temporarily closed for cleaning after workers walked out upon learning of a positive COVID-19 case. Employees learned about the case from co-workers and say they had been expected to come to work.
The failure to notify workers when someone at a facility tests positive appears to be systemic. Last week, The Verge spoke with workers at several warehouses across the US who learned of COVID-19 cases from co-workers. At JFK8, Palmer says the first case was confirmed on March 12th, but workers were only told several days afterward when managers walked the floor and told employees in person. But the facility is staffed by more than 4,000 workers and is 855,000 square feet, so many learned of the incident through hearsay much later.
Amazon has a strong infrastructure for keeping its warehouse employees informed. For example, when the company announces mandatory overtime, Palmer points out, the company sends out texts and emails to every worker. “With this incident, they have not sent out one text — nothing at all,” Palmer says.
Amazon says it has intensified the cleaning of its warehouses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but workers at JFK8 and elsewhere say the measures fall far short of what’s needed. Palmer says shifts of about a dozen cleaners work at JFK8, too few to properly disinfect such an enormous building. (Workers in other warehouses in the US have expressed similar concerns about understaffing of cleaning crews.) While Amazon has stopped daily stand-up meetings and staggered schedules to minimize workers clustering together, certain roles in the warehouse, like the packing department, still require employees to stand in close proximity, and workers often pass items between each other.
“The way that the department is set up, everyone is on top of each other,” Palmer says. “It is literally impossible to maintain the social distance within those departments, and they haven’t been practiced, they haven’t tried to adjust that at all because there’s no way they can do it.”
In Italy and Spain, where COVID-19 outbreaks have been spreading longer, Amazon refused to shut down facilities after workers became infected, prompting protests. Earlier this month, a group of senators wrote a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos expressing concern for the safety of Amazon workers and asking, among other things, whether the company would temporarily shut down facilities and provide paid leave for workers if someone tests positive for COVID-19. A petition among workers calling for a similar approach has garnered more than 1,500 signatures. The workers at JFK8 are also calling for paid leave while the facility is shut down for cleaning.
In a statement, Amazon called the workers’ claims “unfounded” and said its employees are “heroes.” The company is taking worker safety extremely seriously and has instituted several changes, the company said, including intensifying cleaning and screening worker temperatures. Regarding closing buildings, the company said it consults with health authorities and medical experts, and if a diagnosed worker hasn’t been in the building for some time or if the area where they worked has already been cleaned during the regular course of business, the facility may not need to be closed.
The pandemic has shown a spotlight on the role of workers at Amazon, Instacart, and other goods-delivering tech companies. No longer laboring in the background of digital interfaces, they’re increasingly being recognized as frontline workers providing a vital service to millions of Americans who are being told to stay home. Both companies are trying to hire tens of thousands more people to meet surging demand. Amazon is giving its workers letters to carry saying they are “essential” employees, delivering “critical supplies directly to the doorsteps of people who need them” and should be allowed to continue their jobs amid shutdowns.
But the pandemic also exposes these workers to new risks, and workers say companies have been slow to adjust policies and protections. Instacart and Amazon now offer workers diagnosed with COVID-19 or placed into quarantine two weeks’ paid leave, but that doesn’t help workers who have COVID-19 symptoms but can’t get tested. Amazon warehouses have been optimized for speed and efficiency, and workers say the intense pace leaves them little time to use cleaning material that is often in short supply.
Today, Instacart workers are going on strike, calling for expanded sick leave, hazard pay, and protective equipment. Workers at Whole Foods, which is also owned by Amazon and faces unprecedented demand for delivery, are striking tomorrow. JFK8 marks the first major action at an Amazon fulfillment center, and workers at Amazon warehouses across the country have expressed similar concerns.
Shutting down a fulfillment center for a prolonged period would threaten Amazon’s ability to continue delivering products, but refusing to do so and failing to assure employees their safety is being taken seriously pose potentially greater threats to the company. Already, workers are staying home rather than venturing into crowded warehouses, choosing to forgo pay that Amazon recently increased rather than risk getting infected. Delivery times for some items now stretch to a month or more. Now, at JFK8, workers frustrated with the company’s coronavirus response are trying to shut down the facility themselves.
Around 1PM on March 30th, workers filed out of the New York warehouse, many wearing masks and bandanas over their faces. “Alexa, please shut down and sanitize the building,” read one of the signs. On a live stream of the protest, workers expressed frustration with not being told about infections at the warehouse and said many were choosing to stay home without pay.
“We’re not done here. Today was a cry for help,” said Chris Smalls, a worker at the facility and one of the walkout organizers, wearing a black bandana as he addressed protesters. “Today was a win for us, but it’s a battle and the war is not over. We’re going to go to City Hall possibly tomorrow morning. We’ve got to get the government’s attention. Just like in Kentucky, the government has to step in and close the building down.”
Update 3PM ET: The story has been updated to identify one of the speakers at the protest, Chris Smalls.
Amazon, the e-commerce giant that has fared well financially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is facing a bevy of worker strikes. Today, warehouse workers on Staten Island in New York walked off the job in protest of Amazon’s treatment amid the crisis.
“Like all businesses grappling with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we are working hard to keep employees safe while serving communities and the most vulnerable,” an Amazon spokesperson told TechCrunch. “We have taken extreme measures to keep people safe, tripling down on deep cleaning, procuring safety supplies that are available, and changing processes to ensure those in our buildings are keeping safe distances. The truth is the vast majority of employees continue to show up and do the heroic work of delivering for customers every day.”
In solidarity with warehouse workers, tech workers at Amazon are demanding the company provide fully paid family leave for people who miss work, provide fully paid leave to all Amazon workers, close facilities immediately following contamination, ensure full paid leave for workers whose jobs are impacted by such closures and ensure everyone has unlimited time to take care of their health.
“Recognizing the urgency of the moment, tech workers are going beyond asking Amazon to take action and are pledging not to work for Amazon if it fails to act,” the DC Tech Workers Coalition wrote in a petition. “We also pledge to ask organizations in our communities such as universities and conferences to not accept Amazon as a sponsor or participant in events.”
Meanwhile, workers at Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, are organizing a “sick out” strike tomorrow to demand better protections on the job, Vice reports.
According to Vice, Whole Foods workers will call in sick tomorrow and demand paid sick leave for those who stay at home or self-quarantine during the pandemic. They will also demand free coronavirus testing for employees and hazard pay.
Led by group Whole Worker, the sick-out was originally planned for May 1, but was moved up in response to reports that workers have started getting sick and testing positive for COVID-19.
“As this situation has progressed, our fundamental needs as workers have become more urgent,” the group wrote on its campaign page. “COVID-19 poses a very real threat to the safety of our workforce and our customers. We cannot wait for politicians, institutions, or our own management to step in to protect us.”
This action will come one day after Instacart workers are refusing to shop and deliver groceries until the company meets their demands. Shoppers’ current demands are offering hazard pay of $5 extra per order, changing the default tip to 10%, and extending the sick pay policy to those who have a doctor’s note for a pre-existing condition that may make them more susceptible to contracting the virus.
“For the sake of public health and worker safety, every non-union grocery worker must speak out,” United Fodo and Commercial Workers International Union President Marc Perrone said in a statement. “If Amazon, Instacart, and Whole Foods are unwilling to do what is right to protect their workers and our communities, the UFCW is ready to listen and do all we can to help protect these brave workers from irresponsible employers who are ignoring the serious threat posed by the rapidly growing coronavirus outbreak.”
The company said Monday that the pandemic has taken a "heavy toll" on its business. Macy's(M), which also owns Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury, closed all of its 775 stores in the United States earlier this month to slow the virus from spreading in crowded areas, and because of laws in some states that forced the closure of nonessential businesses, including retailers.
Macy's painted a bleak picture of its already perilous financial situation. The company said that it has lost a "majority" of sales because of the brick-and-mortar closures and has implemented other changes to bolster its bottom line, including drawing down its credit line and freezing hiring and spending.
"While these actions have helped, it is not enough," the company bluntly said. Macy's is "moving to the absolute minimum workforce needed to maintain basic operations." That is resulting in furloughs for a "majority" of its employees beginning this week. Affected workers will still get the company-funded health care for at least through May.
Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette and the company's board of directors will stop receiving their salaries, according to a regulatory filing.
Macy's websites remain open for orders. The company will furlough fewer workers at its digital operations and distribution and call centers, Macy's said, but online sales make up just a fifth of Macy's overall revenue.
"We expect to bring colleagues back on a staggered basis as business resumes," the company said. However, its unclear when retailers will be allowed to open. President Donald Trump announced Sunday he's extending the nationwide social distancing guidelines until at least April 30.
The news is another blow for Macy's, which has already been reducing its store count as dwindling sales took hold in the US even before the coronavirus pandemic. Department stores have already been being squeezed by discount chains, like TJ Maxx (TJX)and Target(TGT), which is pressuring profits and forcing them to put products on sale. Meanwhile, more shoppers are migrating online.
Macy's shares fell 2% in early trading. The stock is down nearly 70% for the year.
The company said Monday that the pandemic has taken a "heavy toll" on its business. Macy's(M), which also owns Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury, closed all of its 775 stores in the United States earlier this month to slow the virus from spreading in crowded areas, and because of laws in some states that forced the closure of nonessential businesses, including retailers.
Macy's painted a bleak picture of its already perilous financial situation. The company said that it has lost a "majority" of sales because of the brick-and-mortar closures and has implemented other changes to bolster its bottom line, including drawing down its credit line and freezing hiring and spending.
"While these actions have helped, it is not enough," the company bluntly said. Macy's is "moving to the absolute minimum workforce needed to maintain basic operations." That is resulting in furloughs for a "majority" of its employees beginning this week. Affected workers will still get the company-funded health care for at least through May.
Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette and the company's board of directors will stop receiving their salaries, according to a regulatory filing.
Macy's websites remain open for orders. The company will furlough fewer workers at its digital operations and distribution and call centers, Macy's said, but online sales make up just a fifth of Macy's overall revenue.
"We expect to bring colleagues back on a staggered basis as business resumes," the company said. However, its unclear when retailers will be allowed to open. President Donald Trump announced Sunday he's extending the nationwide social distancing guidelines until at least April 30.
The news is another blow for Macy's, which has already been reducing its store count as dwindling sales took hold in the US even before the coronavirus pandemic. Department stores have already been being squeezed by discount chains, like TJ Maxx (TJX)and Target(TGT), which is pressuring profits and forcing them to put products on sale. Meanwhile, more shoppers are migrating online.
Macy's shares fell 2% in early trading. The stock is down nearly 70% for the year.
The company said Monday that the pandemic has taken a "heavy toll" on its business. Macy's(M), which also owns Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury, closed all of its 775 stores in the United States earlier this month to slow the virus from spreading in crowded areas, and because of laws in some states that forced the closure of nonessential businesses, including retailers.
Macy's painted a bleak picture of its already perilous financial situation. The company said that it has lost a "majority" of sales because of the brick-and-mortar closures and has implemented other changes to bolster its bottom line, including drawing down its credit line and freezing hiring and spending.
"While these actions have helped, it is not enough," the company bluntly said. Macy's is "moving to the absolute minimum workforce needed to maintain basic operations." That is resulting in furloughs for a "majority" of its employees beginning this week. Affected workers will still get the company-funded health care for at least through May.
Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette and the company's board of directors will stop receiving their salaries, according to a regulatory filing.
Macy's websites remain open for orders. The company will furlough fewer workers at its digital operations and distribution and call centers, Macy's said, but online sales make up just a fifth of Macy's overall revenue.
"We expect to bring colleagues back on a staggered basis as business resumes," the company said. However, its unclear when retailers will be allowed to open. President Donald Trump announced Sunday he's extending the nationwide social distancing guidelines until at least April 30.
The news is another blow for Macy's, which has already been reducing its store count as dwindling sales took hold in the US even before the coronavirus pandemic. Department stores have already been being squeezed by discount chains, like TJ Maxx (TJX)and Target(TGT), which is pressuring profits and forcing them to put products on sale. Meanwhile, more shoppers are migrating online.
Macy's shares fell 2% in early trading. The stock is down nearly 70% for the year.
Macy's said the majority of its employees will be furloughed beginning this week as it copes with significant sales losses during the coronavirus pandemic.
The retailer declined to say how many employees will be affected by the furloughs. It said it's lost most of its sales, even as it remains open online, and that's why cost cuts are necessary.
Macy's is one of dozens of retailers that have been forced to close stores to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. All of its stores have been closed since March 18, and it has not decided when it will be safe to reopen.
Like Macy's, many retailers have continued to sell online. Without brick-and-mortar locations, though, they have lost the engine that still fuels most customer purchases.
In a statement Monday, Macy's listed the many steps it's already taken to try to shore up its finances. It has suspended its dividend, drawn down a line of credit, frozen hiring and spending, and canceled some orders, among others.
"While these actions have helped, it is not enough," the company said in a statement. "Across Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and Bluemercury brands, we will be moving to the absolute minimum workforce needed to maintain basic operations."
The company said it is evaluating all other financing options.
Macy's had roughly 130,000 employees, excluding seasonal staff, as of Feb. 2. As of the latest reported quarter, the company was operating 551 Macy's department stores, 34 Bloomingdale's locations, 19 Bloomingdale's outlets and 171 Bluemercury shops, according to its website.
Shares of Macy's were up slightly in trading Monday on the news. The stock, which has a market capitalization of $1.7 billion, has lost 68% of its value since the start of the year.
As department stores remain dark, companies may feel even more squeezed. According to an analysis by Cowen and Co., Kohl's and Macy's have enough liquidity for five months. J.C. Penney and Nordstrom fare a bit better and have enough cash to last eight months with their stores closed, Cowen said.
Along with furloughs, Macy's said last week that its CEO Jeff Gennette will not receive compensation starting April 1 and until the end of the crisis. It said it would also reduce pay for the period for all executives at management director level and above.
Macy's said it will have fewer furloughs on the digital side of its business, such as in its distribution centers and call centers. It said furloughed employees enrolled in health benefits will continue to receive coverage, with the company paying 100% of the premium.
"We expect to bring colleagues back on a staggered basis as business resumes," it said.
Stocks rose Monday, building on a strong rally from last week as the U.S. extended measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
The Dow was up more than 400 points, while the S&P 500 climbed 2.3% and the Nasdaq added 2.7%.
President Donald Trump said at a news conference Sunday the national social distancing guidelines have been extended to April 30, adding the death rate from the virus would peak in two weeks. These measures, while they may cause a sharp economic disruption in the near term, are seen by some investors as preventing long-term damage to the economy.
Sentiment was also lifted after Johnson & Johnson said it identified a lead vaccine candidate for the coronavirus. The company noted that human testing on the potential vaccine will begin in September. J&J shares climbed 3.9%.
The Dow last week posted its biggest weekly gain since 1938, surging more than 12%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are coming off their best week since 2009, after rising 10.3% and 9.1%, respectively. To be sure, it was a volatile ride for investors. The S&P 500 posted daily swings of at least 2.9% in four of the five sessions. That includes a 3.4% drop on Friday for the S&P 500.
The sharp gains last week were sparked in part by the prospect of massive fiscal and monetary stimulus. President Donald Trump signed into law Friday a $2 trillion stimulus package that includes direct payments to curb the economic blow from the outbreak. The Federal Reserve also launched a series of measures to sustain the economy, including an open-ended asset-purchase program.
“Bulls staged an epic comeback,” said Ken Berman, a strategist at Gorilla Trades. “Despite the rally … the uncertainty regarding the length of the necessary, but economically damaging global lockdowns continues to weigh on risk assets.”
“The technical picture continues to be bearish across the board, despite the mid-week surge in stocks, with all of the key trend indicators still pointing lower,” said Berman, noting the major averages are still below their respective moving-day averages even after last week’s strong gains.
Coronavirus cases around the world are still climbing, adding to the uncertainty over when lockdown and quarantine measures will be removed and the economy can return to normal.
Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows more than 713,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed globally. The U.S. overtook Italy and China last week as the country with the most cases with over 136,000. Nearly half of all U.S. cases come from New York, where more than 59,000 people have been infected.
“Equity markets are overextended, but face a bumpy period of even grimmer virus news and poor economic statistics in the next 1-2 months,” strategists at MRB Partners wrote in a note. “The world is now entering a third phase, the first being the shock of an out-of-control virus spreading around the globe, then the massive policy response, and now the economic fallout phase has arrived and will test investors’ very fragile confidence.”
Investors got a glimpse of the virus’ economic impact last week. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported a record 3.28 million workers filed for unemployment benefits the week of March 20. That number easily topped the previous record of 695,000 set in 1982.
To be sure, the market has also flashed some signals of a potential bottom. The confidence spread between the so-called smart money — large institutions — and dumb money, retail investors, sits squarely in positive territory after dropping to extremely low levels. Meanwhile, insider buying reached an 11-year high. Data from Morning Consult showed U.S. consumer sentiment has started to stabilize.
“We have argued that given the speed of the fall there will have to be relief rallies, but that they are likely to end up being faded,” wrote Mislav Matejka, a JPMorgan equity strategist, citing in a note a spiral between job losses, falling demand and declining earnings. “Ultimately, this bounce might prove tactical, too.”
Macy's said the majority of its employees will be furloughed beginning this week as it copes with significant sales losses during the coronavirus pandemic.
The retailer declined to say how many employees will be affected by the furloughs. It said it's lost most of its sales, even as it remains open online, and that's why cost cuts are necessary.
Macy's is one of dozens of retailers that have been forced to close stores to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. All of its stores have been closed since March 18, and it has not decided when it will be safe to reopen.
Like Macy's, many retailers have continued to sell online. Without brick-and-mortar locations, though, they have lost the engine that still fuels most customer purchases.
In a statement on Monday, Macy's listed the many steps it's already taken to try to shore up its finances. It has suspended its dividend, drawn down a line of credit, frozen hiring and spending and canceled some orders, among others.
"While these actions have helped, it is not enough," the company said in a statement. "Across Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and Bluemercury brands, we will be moving to the absolute minimum workforce needed to maintain basic operations."
The company said it is evaluating all other financing options.
Macy's had roughly 130,000 employees, excluding seasonal staff, as of Feb. 2. As of the latest reported quarter, the company was operating 551 Macy's department stores, 34 Bloomingdale's locations, 19 Bloomingdale's outlets and 171 Bluemercury shops, according to its website.
Shares of Macy's were up slightly in trading Monday on the news. The stock, which has a market capitalization of $1.7 billion, has lost 68% of its value since the start of the year.
As department stores remain dark, companies may feel even more squeezed. According to an analysis by Cowen & Co., Kohl's and Macy's have enough liquidity for five months. J.C. Penney and Nordstrom fare a bit better and have enough cash to last eight months with their stores closed, Cowen said.
Along with furloughs, Macy's said last week that its CEO Jeff Gennette will not receive compensation starting April 1 and until the end of the crisis. It said it would also reduce pay for the period for all executives at management director level and above.
Macy's said it will have fewer furloughs on the digital side of its business, such as in its distribution centers and call centers. It said furloughed employees enrolled in health benefits will continue to receive coverage, with the company paying 100% of the premium.
"We expect to bring colleagues back on a staggered basis as business resumes," it said.
While much of the U.S. economy has ground to a halt because of the coronavirus outbreak, several dozen workers in orange vests and hard hats were hauling heavy equipment on Sunday at a General Motors plant in Kokomo, Ind.
The crew was part of a crash effort to make tens of thousands of ventilators, the lifesaving machines that keep critically ill patients breathing. The machines are in desperate demand as hospitals face the prospect of dire shortages. New York State alone may need 30,000 or more.
President Trump on Friday accused G.M. and its chief executive, Mary T. Barra, of dragging their feet on the project and directed his administration to force the company to make ventilators under a 1950s law. But accounts from five people with knowledge of the automaker’s plans depict an attempt by G.M. and its partner, Ventec Life Systems, a small maker of ventilators, to accelerate production of the devices.
With deaths surging as cases snowball, the two companies have moved urgently to find parts, place orders and deploy workers, the people said. Tasks that normally would take weeks or months have been completed in days. The companies expect production to begin in three weeks and the first ventilators to ship before the end of April.
On March 19, G.M. began collaborating with Ventec, which normally makes about 200 machines a month, to figure out how to make about 10 times as many in that time. Working through the weekend of March 21 and 22, they hurried to find new suppliers that could provide parts in high volumes, said the five people, who asked not to be named because they fear it would further antagonize Mr. Trump.
Over the weekend, G.M. called in workers to clear out the Kokomo plant, which has been idled because of the outbreak, of machinery previously used to make electrical components for cars. Over the next few days, the automaker and Ventec plan to begin setting up an assembly line. G.M. is already taking applications for the hundreds of jobs. “We continue to work around the clock on our efforts with Ventec,” G.M. said in a statement on Sunday night. “We are working as fast as we can to begin production in Kokomo.”
“I’m pretty amazed at what they’ve done,” said Kristin Dziczek, vice president for industry and economics at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. “But automotive production involves a massive supply chain, and G.M. has risen to the occasion on other big manufacturing challenges.”
Mr. Trump does not see it that way. On Friday, he said on Twitter that Ms. Barra and G.M. had promised to provide 40,000 ventilators “very quickly” but was now telling the administration that it could produce only 6,000 by late April and wanted “top dollar” for the machines. “Always a mess with Mary B,” he said.
G.M. wasn’t negotiating price and other details with the government. Ventec has led the talks with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services about how many ventilators the government would like to buy, and at what price. The automaker has said it will not make a profit on the ventilators it assembles and is only seeking to cover its costs.
G.M.’s involvement in ventilators began with a phone call asking for help.
This month, Ms. Barra was contacted by a representative of Stop the Spread, a nonprofit campaign started by Rachel Romer Carlson, the chief executive of Guild Education, and Kenneth I. Chenault, the chairman and managing director at the venture capital firm General Catalyst and a former chief executive and chairman of American Express, four people familiar with the discussion said.
The four people familiar with the call said that Ms. Barra offered to help and the representative from Stop the Spread suggested the company ought to use its manufacturing and purchasing might to help Ventec scale up ventilator production.
Ventec isn’t a giant in the ventilator industry, but it is known for its VOCSN model, which received F.D.A. approval in 2017. The VOCSN, which is the size of a large toaster oven, combines a number of functions that had previously been performed by several machines to pump air into the lungs, suction out secretions and produce oxygen when a central oxygen line is not available. The device is used in critical-care hospital units but also can be used for home care.
Around the time of the call, G.M., Ford and Fiat Chrysler were grappling with whether to keep their plants running. The United Auto Workers union was putting pressure on the companies to do more to protect workers. The day after Ms. Barra spoke to Stop the Spread, G.M. and the other two large U.S. automakers said they would shut down plants until at least March 30.
The following day, Phil Kienle, G.M.’s head of manufacturing for North America, and a few other executives flew to Ventec’s headquarters in Bothell, Wash. Early on Friday, March 20, the G.M. team sat down with Ventec executives to learn how the ventilators are made, and what parts are required. Ventec had already started a push to ramp up production to 1,000 a month. The group concluded that with G.M.’s resources, 20,000 a month would be possible, four people familiar with the talks said.
The next day, G.M. emailed its suppliers specifications of Ventec parts, asking if any could produce them in high volumes. Mr. Kienle’s team quickly zeroed in on Kokomo as a location to assemble the machines, a person familiar with the matter said. The plant, unlike much grittier car assembly factories, has the type of clean room needed for making medical devices.
On the evening of Sunday, March 22, G.M.’s purchasing chief, Shilpan Amin, emailed Ms. Barr and other top executives to let them know that the company and Ventec had secured commitments from suppliers to produce 95 percent of the needed parts, according to three people familiar with the email.
By last Tuesday, G.M. and Ventec had the details of their collaboration hammered out, which they discussed publicly early in the week. G.M. would operate as a contract manufacturer for Ventec, which would sell and distribute the machines. Ventec also plans to increase production at its plant in Washington State.
As talks progressed, coronavirus cases were soaring in New York City, and climbing as well in Boston, Detroit, New Orleans and elsewhere. In a news conference, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York complained that the federal government had provided only 400 ventilators to the state. “You pick the 26,000 people who are going to die because you only sent 400 ventilators,” Mr. Cuomo said last Tuesday.
Two days later, Mr. Trump disputed the governor’s numbers while calling in to Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News. “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators,” Mr. Trump said. “You go into major hospitals sometimes, and they’ll have two ventilators.”
The federal government hasn’t indicated how many machines the ventilator makers, including G.M. and Ventec, ought to produce, two people familiar with the talks said. Ventec never received a confirmation from the government about which machine it was interested in acquiring, how many it wanted and how much it was willing to spend.
At the same time, administration officials told The Times that they were struggling to understand how many ventilators the two companies could produce. On Wednesday afternoon, FEMA told the White House that it needed more time to assess offers for ventilators.
When Mr. Trump lashed out at G.M. on Friday, executives at both companies were stunned. G.M. executives were furious Mr. Trump would attack the company after it had made so much progress in a week and the administration had earlier been supportive of their effort. (The president on Friday also took aim at Ford Motor, writing, “FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!” Ford is helping General Electric’s health care division increase production of its ventilators.)
“What we’ve accomplished in five days is incredible,” Larryson Foltran, who works in a technology support group at G.M., wrote on Facebook, noting he had been working 14 to 18 hours a day. He said that the president’s posts had bothered him “on a deeper level.”
Ultimately, G.M. and Ventec executives decided that they would offer no direct response to the president because responding would only invite more criticism from the White House, two people familiar with those discussions said.
Even if the federal government ultimately declines to buy the machines Ventec and G.M. make, the companies are moving ahead because they know there will be other customers around the country, and across the world, four people familiar with their plans said.
But Mr. Trump’s Twitter posts appear to have unnerved other corporate leaders. A person familiar with the Stop the Spread campaign said that several corporate executives who had been willing to contribute to the effort earlier had backed away for fear of ending up becoming targets for Mr. Trump as Ms. Barra had.
At a White House news conference on Sunday, the president struck a different tone. “General Motors is doing a fantastic job,” Mr. Trump said. “I don’t think we have to worry about General Motors now.”
Sen. Ted Cruz told CNBC on Monday he and eight other GOP senators recently ripped into the Saudi ambassador in a conference call over the oil price war with Russia that has threatened to put American producers out of business.
In a "Squawk Box" interview, Cruz said the call with Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was "as candid a call, and direct a call, as I've ever had with a foreign leader."
"We quite frankly unloaded on her," the Texas Republican said.
Oil prices have plummeted as Saudi Arabia and Russia remain locked in a price war that began after Russia earlier this month rejected an additional 1.5 million barrels per day production cut proposed by OPEC.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude briefly dipped below $20 on Monday. Brent, the international benchmark, fell to its lowest price in nearly 18 years.
Following Russia's rejection, Saudi Arabia slashed its official oil price and announced that it will increase production to 12.3 million barrels per day when the current production cuts expire at the end of March. Tanking prices have made it unprofitable for many U.S. firms to to remain active, analysts have said.
Cruz said the senators warned that they would take action against Saudi Arabia if the "economic warfare" continued, though he did not mention any specific retaliatory measure.
"We said. 'Look, there are a whole series of steps we can take to escalate foreign policy pressure' — and we outlined a number of them — 'if you continue engaging in economic warfare against the United States, trying to drive down the price of oil in order to exploit this coronavirus crisis to drive a bunch of American producers out of business.'"
The Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cruz said the senators on the call were among the 13 Republicans who wrote a letter to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman earlier in March urging him to halt Saudi efforts to boost production and lower prices. He said the lawmakers have "historically been the strongest allies in the Senate of Saudi Arabia," suggesting that support could be on the line.
"If they don't change their course, their relationship with the United States is going to change very fundamentally," Cruz said.
In addition to Cruz, the Senate Republicans who signed the letter were Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska; North Dakota's Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; John Cornyn of Texas; John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana; John Barrasso of Wyoming; Tom Cotton of Arkansas and James Lankford and James Inhofe of Oklahoma.
Cruz did not say which nine were on the conference call.
Princess Reema sought to pin the blame on Russia. Cruz said he responded that Russia was not expected to be a friend to the United States, while Saudi Arabia was.
"You are not behaving like a friend when you are trying to destroy thousands and thousands of small businesses all across Texas and the country," he said he told her.
"The Saudis are hoping to drive out of business American producers, and in particular shale producers, largely in the Permian Basin in Texas and in North Dakota," Cruz told CNBC. "That behavior is wrong, and I think it is taking advantage of a country that is a friend."
Cruz also said he hoped that President Donald Trump, scheduled to speak with Russian leader Vladimir Putin by phone on Monday morning, would bring up the issue.
Trump said on Fox News earlier on Monday that he would bring up the price war, noting that Saudi Arabia and Russia "both went crazy."
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