Growth and social justice King sets a new agenda, chooses Toyota as its lead organizing target BY BRENT SNAVELY FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
• MORE: Follow our coverage of the UAW Annual Convention • PHOTO GALLERY: UAW march against Wall Street King's top organizing target is Toyota, even though he acknowledged the union has had no luck in the past with its efforts to organize the Japanese automaker. "The first battleground is Fremont, Calif.," King said, because of Toyota's decision to exit a partnership with General Motors at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or NUMMI, a decision that left 4,700 out of work in April. "We are going to show Toyota and the world when any employer takes an anti-union action, it's a bad business case because they are going to pay a much higher price than they would if they work with the UAW," King said. Toyota has said it will form a partnership with Tesla to build electric cars at the plant, and the UAW has urged the companies to rehire UAW workers. Toyota also announced Thursday that it will resume construction of its Mississippi plant, which had been halted when auto sales tanked in 2008, and plans to hire 2,000 workers at the Blue Springs factory to build the Corolla compact. "California should be outraged," King said. Toyota spokesman Mike Goss said Toyota closed NUMMI because it became too costly to operate after General Motors pulled out of the joint venture. Most of the Corolla suppliers are in the Midwest. "It had nothing to do with wanting to pay lower wages," Goss said. King said the UAW also could picket Toyota dealerships. King, 63, who earned a law degree in 1973, has long been known as a successful organizer and a vocal social-justice advocate. After he spoke on Thursday, the UAW handed out navy T-shirts that said "mobilizing for justice," and King led hundreds of members through downtown Detroit as they chanted slogans like, "no peace, no justice," and "good jobs now." Leaders from the Teamsters, NAACP and other unions joined him on stage on Woodward Avenue. "We will never ever have success where our membership is concerned if we are not part of a large, broader social movement," King said. King wants the UAW to return to its roots to fight for civil rights and the First Amendment. At its height in 1979, the UAW had 1.5 million members, but plant closures have cut its ranks to about 355,000. King said the UAW can only regain its strength if it organizes all of the major competitors in an industry. Union members said they were energized by King's speech and his agenda. "I just hope he can save some plants from closing," said Marcus Carpenter, who works at a Ford plant in St. Paul, Minn., that builds the Ranger and is scheduled to close in 2011. King said the UAW's goal is always to negotiate the best wages and benefits possible for its members, and didn't rule out revisiting a $14 per hour second-tier wage that was established in the 2007 labor agreement. King also announced the duties of other top officers: • Joe Ashton of New York will lead the General Motors department. • Jimmy Settles was re-elected vice president and will lead the union's Ford, aerospace and insurance departments • General Holiefield was re-elected vice president and will lead the union's Chrysler, heavy truck and General Dynamics departments. • Cindy Estrada, director of UAW national organizing, was elected vice president and will lead the auto supplier, public sector and health care department. • Dennis Williams, a director in Chicago, was elected secretary-treasurer of the UAW and will lead the agricultural manufacturing department. Contact BRENT SNAVELY: 313-222-6512 or bsnav...@freepress.co _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
