UAW's King says organizing at transplants begins in January

[DainBramaged]

UAW President Bob King said the union intends to launch a campaign in January to organize the U.S. manufacturing plants of Asian and German automakers.

In an exclusive interview, King said the UAW has sent letters to the global CEOs of the automakers with U.S. transplant operations, saying the union wants to organize their plants and cooperate to improve operations.

King declined to say which transplant automaker the UAW would target first or to reveal how the automakers responded to the letter.

King took over the UAW helm last June after predecessor Ron Gettelfinger competed his two-term, eight-year tenure.

In another gesture, the UAW has called off demonstrations at U.S. Toyota dealerships, King said. The union halted the protests, started at select dealerships after Toyota decided last spring to close its assembly plant in Fremont, Calif., to “reach out” to Toyota officials on the eve of the organizing drive, he said.



Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101222/OEM01/101229954/1424#ixzz18tjLG8nO


About time. 'Ole Ron Gettelfinger was a stool and refused to do this while the UAW declined and lost tens of thousands of jobs and members the past decade. New leadership, a brighter future.