Word: unioneers
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King is viewed favorably both by UAW leadership and by outsiders. "Ron is very direct. Bob is a bit more cerebral," says Ford Motor Co. Chairman William Clay Ford Jr., who has dealt extensively with both union leaders. Labor experts including Harley Shaiken, a University of California-Berkeley labor-relations professor, say King, who completed an electrician's apprenticeship while working at Ford in the early 1970s and simultaneously finished a law degree at the University of Detroit, is the logical choice to succeed Gettlefinger...
Maybe so, but the strange thing is that UAW members don't get to formally express their feelings about King. For more than 60 years, the UAW's top leadership has blocked attempts to permit union members to vote directly for the union presidency. Rather, as the UAW's new designated nominee, King has the support of the union executive board, which has picked the UAW presidents since the late 1940s through series of closed caucuses. (See the worst business deals...
...Unions such as the Teamsters and the Steelworkers have shifted to selecting their presidents by direct membership vote, but the UAW leaders remain actively opposed to the idea, claiming a direct vote would open the union to outside influence ranging from employers and subversives to organized crime. However, Jerry Tucker, a former member of the UAW board, says the current practice is outmoded and fundamentally anti-democratic. Tucker has actively campaigned to allow member voting in such elections. "It might not change the outcome. But it would force the leadership to become more accountable," he says. As it now stands...
Largely because of the auto industry crisis, Gettelfinger now has complete access to top executives at all three of Detroit's automakers. King will enjoy the same access, union insiders predicted...
However, King will inherit a union that has watched big contract gains made over the last two generations simply melt away as the auto industry downturn worsened. Union members hired prior to the current downturn continue to make $28 per hour. But when the industry recovers and the Detroit Three will hire new employees, they will only be guaranteed $14 per hour...