Participants in the Detroit March for Jobs, Justice and Peace which was held on August 28, 2010. The event was co-sponsored by the UAW and the Rainbow/Push Coalition and drew over 5,000 workers and community people. (Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Union makes a bid to reinvent itself
BY BRENT SNAVELY
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
On this Labor Day weekend, the role of those who advocate for workers and those who want to work -- such as the UAW -- has never been more important.
U.S. unemployment stands at 9.6%, with Michigan at 13.1%.
Those who do have jobs are often anxious about losing them and watching their benefits decline. Incomes are down. And working or not, many people are finding health care expensive or are lacking coverage altogether. For many, retirement seems but a dream.
With four new leaders at its helm, including UAW President Bob King, the union is trying to tap into this worker discontent and recommit itself to broader social-justice issues in an effort to rejuvenate its sunken membership levels.
"I think Bob's leadership team came in with unusual energy," said Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California-Berkeley. "They understand the severity of the current situation."
Dennis Williams, the UAW's new secretary-treasurer, said the UAW feels compelled to revamp itself.
"It is our obligation ... to move social programs forward -- not just for our members -- but for society," he said. "And that includes good jobs here in America, and that is one of the things that we are fighting for."
To that end, the UAW is planning an aggressive agenda to restore some jobs and benefits in next year's talks with the Detroit Three.
UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles said the union has been picking up momentum. "We have been able to do more in 2 1/2 months than I have seen in eight years," Settles said.
Read more: UAW's plan: Tap into worker discontent, focus on social justice | freep.com | Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/20100905/BUSINESS01/9050551/1318/UAW-makes-a-bid-to-reinvent-itself#ixzz0yfKSWBIt
Union's new leaders hit ground running
Organizing Asian plants, pacts with Detroit 3 key issues
BY BRENT SNAVELY
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
The three newest members of the UAW's new leadership team, elected in June, were still looking for places to live in August and moving boxes around their offices at Solidarity House in downtown Detroit.
But those hurdles have hardly slowed them down.
In the two months since they were elected to be part of the UAW's new leadership team, led by Bob King, who also was elected as the new president in June, the UAW has:
• Captured new members. That includes 6,500 higher education workers in California -- an important development as the UAW tries to rebuild its membership, which dropped to fewer than 400,000 in 2009 from its high of 1.5 million members in 1979.
• Closed on important new deals. That includes a first labor contract for 700 members who work for an Atlantic City casino.
• Raised its profile. It organized a march commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 rally in downtown Detroit that drew together a coalition of more than 40 unions and religious organizations.
The UAW has also been speaking out more aggressively on behalf of postal workers upset over the prospect of losing a Saturday workday and other global worker issues.
In the past, "I just think we have been very dormant and very, very quiet," said Jimmy Settles, who is serving in his third term as a UAW vice president. He said he's now more excited than ever about the union's direction.
• Not backed down from its challenges. The UAW announced that it is developing a set of principles to commit to fair union elections that it might use to pressure the Asian automakers, which the UAW has struggled to organize, and other corporations.
• Started informal discussions with General Motors and Ford about contract issues in advance of next year's negotiations for a new labor contract.
'On the same page'
In an interview with the Free Press, UAW Vice President Joe Ashton, who is still shopping for a place to live in downtown Detroit, said that he met with incoming GM CEO Dan Akerson, six days after he was named to succeed Ed Whitacre as CEO.
"I think we are both on the same page," Ashton said of Akerson. "For GM to be successful, it has to be a joint program between the company and the union."
Ashton said the UAW has already asked GM to in-house jobs from suppliers back into GM plants, as it has done at some facilities since 2007.
The union has had some recent success in this area. In August, Ford announced plans to bring 1,975 jobs into its plants to do work previously performed by suppliers -- 25% more, the company said, than required by its 2007 contract.
"One of our contract proposals will be to bring additional jobs back in-house," Ashton said.
Seeking restorations
Generally speaking, union leaders intend to seek the restoration of some benefits and jobs lost in recent years, especially as the Detroit Three show signs of improving health.
Last May, before GM and Chrysler took their quick trips through bankruptcy, UAW members ratified contract changes that included a commitment to agree to labor costs comparable to competitors, including Asian automakers, through 2015.
The contract changes also committed the union to binding arbitration to resolve disputes over wage and benefit increases -- essentially, a no-strike clause.
The GM and Chrysler bankruptcies left the automakers partly owned by the U.S. government, which could make next year's talks politically sensitive.
The union might risk a backlash from taxpayers if it pushes hard for a restoration of benefits, said Brad Coulter, director of O'Keefe & Associates, a financial consulting firm.
"The UAW leadership seems to indicate they understand that," he said. "But does the rank and file get it?"
Ashton said the political environment will have no impact on the UAW's approach. "The only restriction that the government really has on us is our ability to strike," Ashton said. "And I would hope that that's a tool that we no longer need."
Sean McAlinden, economist for the Center for Automotive Research, said that no-strike clause could explain the UAW's desire to renew its organizing efforts with the Asian automakers.
In August, King said the union is developing a set of principles that it plans to ask corporations to sign during a union election. The principles would commit the company to an election without threats or intimidation.
In the past, Asian automakers have provided bonuses prior to elections to fend off union organization, McAlinden said. So even if the UAW loses an election, it could force their labor costs to increase.
Newly elected UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada, who successfully organized Mexican Industries in 1999, as well as some other suppliers, said she is eager for the UAW's board to approve the principles.
"We need to increase our organizing," Estrada said. "We need more organizers out there talking to workers."
Financial shortcomings
At the same time, the union also has its own internal financial difficulties to manage.
This year, the UAW cut its UAW International staff by 130 workers through attrition and an early retirement incentive. The union now has a staff of about 325 at its headquarters on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, according to an internal UAW report.
Dennis Williams, the UAW's newly elected secretary-treasurer, said no additional buyouts or significant staff cuts are on the horizon.
The UAW also may decide to keep, rather than sell, the Walter and May Reuther UAW Family Education Center, better known as Black Lake, in Onaway. "While we are evaluating Black Lake, we also see value in keeping Black Lake," Williams said.
The union hired a real estate adviser to market the property for a possible sale. But Williams said the value of the resort must also be measured by the benefits it provides to UAW members from different industries and regions of the country.
If the economy recovers and the union gains members, Williams said, the union may be better off keeping Black Lake and may even look for ways to make it better.
"It is not just property," Williams said. "It has value to who we are as an institution and whatever decision we make regarding Black Lake has to take into consideration that value."
Contact BRENT SNAVELY: 313-222-6512 or bsnavely@freepress.com
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