UAW Leader King to Focus on Organizing Toyota Workers

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Bloomberg

By Keith Naughton - Bob King, elected yesterday as the 10th president of the United Auto Workers union, said organizing the U.S. factory workers of foreign companies such as Toyota Motor Corp. is his “No. 1 priority.”

“If we don’t support Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia and all the non-union plants by supporting the right to organize, we cannot win back the concessions we have given up,” King said in his first address today to delegates at the UAW’s constitutional convention in Detroit.

King, 63, succeeded Ron Gettelfinger, 65, who helped persuade President Barack Obama to organize rescues of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC last year. King takes over amid calls from workers to restore the wages and benefits they gave up to bolster the industry, and as membership in the union has fallen to 355,000 from 1.5 million in 1979.

UAW members who work for U.S. automakers have each given $7,000 to $30,000 in concessions in the past five years, King said last month. The union surrendered raises, bonuses and cost- of-living adjustments at GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler. It agreed to a two-tier wage system, in which new hires earn about $14 an hour, half the amount paid to hourly production workers.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-17/uaw-leader-king-to-focus-on-organizing-toyota-workers-update2-.html

[Yuugal]

1. K&R

[geardaddy]

2. Good. As a member of the UAW (NWU/UAW Local 1981)

I'm glad to see the leaders pushing to unionize.

[Omaha Steve]

3. We bought TWO new GM's last year

Marta got an 09 Equinox on Memorial Day. I got an 09 Cobalt in August with the clunker program. First brand new car since we bought a 79 Caprice. The UAW sent me the sticker below.



Anyone can buy it here: http://www.democraticstuff.com/Please_Don_t_Put_My_Flag_On_Your_Foreign_Car_Bumper_Sticker_BS30173

[geardaddy]

5. Cool. Thanks for the link!

[Omaha Steve]

7. Somebody on the DU called Marta's Equinox a foreign car

Because it was built in Canada.

I have no problem with any car that is union made by the workers. I do have a problem with many companies that have fought with illegal tactics to keep unions out. Especially the ones that have unions in the home country plants!

[Blue_Tires]

4. it will be interesting to see if it's successful this time...

[defendandprotect]

6. That should bring about a new burst of right wing activity/$$ and

reactivate their cohorts -- organized crime -- to stop it !!