Ron Gettelfinger Wins 2nd Term As President of UAW

LAS VEGAS June 14, 2006; Tom Krisher writing for the AP reported that with four of the most challenging years in the United Auto Workers union's history in front of him, Ron Gettelfinger was elected Wednesday to a second term as UAW president.

Gettelfinger, 61, faced no opposition and was re-elected by the 1,400 delegates to the union's constitutional convention, which is held every four years.

He faces turbulent times and difficult decisions as U.S. automakers and suppliers continue to reduce their manufacturing work forces and drive down union membership.

After Gettelfinger's election by acclamation, delegates re-elected Secretary Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn and picked five vice presidents. All were unopposed and on a slate backed by Gettelfinger.

"Ron is the guy, and it's a good team that he's got on board," said Jeff Washington, president of Local 900 at a Ford Motor Co. plant in Wayne, Mich.

During a floor speech Tuesday, Washington called for a march on Washington and shutting the country down with a strike to protest anti-labor policies. But after Wednesday's election, he said he agreed with Gettelfinger's negotiate-and-cooperate approach with manufacturers that are losing money.

"It's always better to sit down and work your differences out," he said.

If the companies don't bargain, though, Washington said Gettelfinger will know what to do: "Ron's tough. Believe me. He'll know when to come out fighting."

Delegates cheered after the elections amid thousands of red, white, blue and yellow balloons, some with "Elect Ron's Team" printed on them. Then there was a large receiving line in a ballroom at the MGM Grand Hotel that lasted more than two hours.

Also elected were vice presidents Terry Thurman, Cal Rapson, James Settles Jr., General Holiefield and Bob King.

Bunn, Rapson and King were incumbents. Settles, Thurman and Holiefield replace Gerald Bantom, Nate Gooden and Dick Shoemaker, who are all retiring.

Gettelfinger, a Frenchtown, Ind., native, joined the union in 1964 as a chassis line repairman at Ford's Louisville, Ky., assembly plant. He gave no acceptance speech.

On Thursday, Gettelfinger will name the vice presidents who will lead what may be contentious negotiations with the Big Three automakers in 2007. He also must deal with corporate downsizing plans and continued efforts to move labor to countries with lower wages.

Ford and General Motors Corp. already have announced plans to reduce their hourly work forces by 60,000, and suppliers represented by the UAW also are cutting jobs. Delphi Corp., GM's largest supplier, plans to close 21 of its 29 U.S. plants and shed thousands of hourly workers.

Delphi also is seeking wage reductions. If successful, other suppliers and the Big Three surely will follow in upcoming contract talks.

Gettelfinger thus far has been cooperative with Ford, GM and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group. After examining the finances of Ford and GM last year, he negotiated concessions to reduce the companies' retiree health care costs. Chrysler Group is seeking a similar deal.

Such moves have angered some in the union, but many others support them as necessary to help the domestic automakers through tough times.

"We're not here to get everything we can out of the big corporations," said Kevin Capelle, a delegate from a Toro Co. parts distribution facility in Plymouth, Wis. "We're here to work with them."

Workers at his plant already agreed to a 28 percent reduction in wages and health benefit costs, Capelle said.

Calvin Tyson, a worker at a Collins & Aikman parts plant in Westland, Mich., knows that companies will seek concessions in future contract talks.

"The best thing that we can do is try to keep the givebacks to a minimum," he said.

Even though his plant is slated for closure, Tyson agrees with negotiating and cooperation. But he said Gettelfinger will know the right time to call a strike.

Gettelfinger won't "accept being stonewalled, being lied to or being ignored," Tyson said.

Before his first term began in 2002, Gettelfinger was a union vice president and headed the UAW's Ford department, where he made his mark in leading negotiations during contract talks that year.

Gettelfinger and his vice presidents quickly will have to begin planning for talks on national contracts with the Big Three, all of which expire in September 2007. The same convention delegates will reconvene in the spring to shape the UAW's bargaining strategy.

Gettelfinger also will preside over an unprecedented organizing drive. Earlier in the week delegates approved a constitutional change allowing the union to take $60 million from its $914 million strike fund to spend on recruiting new members.

The change also allowed the UAW to take another $50 million from the strike fund to pay for its operating expenses.

United Auto Workers: http://www.uaw.org