Williams: Union To Focus On Detroit Three, Transplants, Elections

by Cameron Aubernon

Published: June 6th, 2014

williams union to focus on detroit three transplants elections

Automotive News reports new United Auto Workers president Dennis Williams let it be known before the 1,100 delegates at the 36th UAW Constitutional Convention in Detroit that the union’s focus will be on contract negotiations with the Detroit Three in 2015, and the national elections of 2014 and 2016. Regarding the former, Williams proclaimed that the time for making concessions had come to an end, vowing to fight on for workers’ rights and social and economic justice. He also addressed the leadership history of the union, providing examples of the challenges each president has had to face during their term, even if the answers left the membership confused at first.

After the convention closed, Williams gave a press conference detailing what the union will specifically do during his tenure as president, including an intensified focus on organizing the transplants in the Southeastern United States. That effort will be led in Tennessee — where the union lost a contentious election to organize the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga in February of this year — by new UAW secretary-treasurer Gary Casteel. The president also hinted at pushing the union toward economic efficiency with its organizing budget, and vowed to take down the two-tier wage system holding a quarter of the 390,000 members working in on the floors of the Detroit Three underneath the rest of the rolls. No specifics were given for either strategy.

Finally, Detroit Free Press reports after Williams finished his speech, he led the delegates out of Cobo Center to join UniteHere Local 24 members on their first day of protest at the Crown Plaza Hotel across the street. Recording secretary Janee Ayers claimed the hotel had hired temporary employees and paying “poverty wages” instead of the $14 per hour average hotel employees make in Detroit. Williams added that no one from the UAW or any labor union would not “do any business” with hotel until its management allows the workers to organize.

#36thUAWConstitutionalConvention #CoboCenter #DennisWilliams #Detroit #GaryCasteel #JaneeAyers #Michigan #NationalElections #Organization #Protests #Uaw #Transplants #UnitedAutoWorkers #SoutheasternUnitedStates #UniteHere

Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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Thelaine on Jun 08, 2014

Then why does it change Lou?

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Lou_BC on Jun 08, 2014

@thelaine - "Then why does it change Lou?" Why does what change? The tribe we are in "The family and neighborhood culture in which we are raised, how we are raised by our immediate family, and our experiences, particularly love and trauma" does affect behavior." Our emotional responses to stimuli can be tempered but not altered. We have influence on what we do but not nearly as much as you'd be willing to concede.

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- Thelaine on Jun 08, 2014
  
  Ultimately the side we chose
  
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- Thelaine on Jun 08, 2014
  
  Loubc, forgive me if I have completely misunderstood your argument. If so, have mercy. My response is that you have no choice but to teach your children just the opposite. They will face choices throughout their lives and they will be responsible for the decisions that they make. Life will never be fair but they will be measured by their responses to the challenges they face. Tragedy can strike anyone and nothing is guaranteed, but in a free and prosperous nation, you can choose your own path. You may not be able to guarantee the success you seek, but you can certainly guarantee failure. That is why I so much regret what is happening to the "free and prosperous" nation I once knew. Much has improved on a social level, but much has been lost economically. The two need not have been linked. The decline is agonizing to behold, and almost entirely self-inflicted.
  
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- Lou_BC on Jun 08, 2014
  
  @thelaine - and "the side we chose" tends to be dictated by emotions and paradigm. There are many that argue that we don't have much choice.
  
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- Thelaine on Jun 08, 2014
  
  @Lou_BC Loubc - And yet, over time, with experience, many people change their outlook. People who are immune from change despite the experiences of life are often either emotionally crippled or live in a cloistered bubble, such as academia.
  
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- Lou_BC on Jun 08, 2014
  
  @thelaine - I do fully agree with your last statement. I do try to educate my children about the fact that life isn't fair. Every parent has heard their kids stomp up and down and utter that remark. One does have the choice to give up or to soldier on. I also try to explain to them that the feel good ideology of "it doesn't matter what you do as long as you fell good about yourself" rarely ever puts food on the table. I do fear for my children's future and I will do everything possible to give them the tools to be happy and prosperous. It will be ultimately up to them to decide what happiness and prosperity is to them. In line with my comments about how we are hardwired to react, one would expect that my two sons would act and behave the same way to stimuli since upbringing are similar but both are completely different in how they act. My youngest has the incredible ability to overcome "nerves" and sing in front of hundreds or thousands of people whereas my other son struggles in a small group of new people. My youngest also has an incredible memory and ability to learn new things but he gets frustrated if he has to push harder to learn. My oldest doesn't have that memory but has a better ability to stubbornly persevere. My oldest has quite the ability to see and think three dimensionally but is very "black and white". My youngest is very artistic and can see the nebulous. If one does not take those factors into account one would not be a good parent. One needs to understand what makes people do what they do. It helps walk a mile in someone else's shoes. I work on that aspect because it makes me better at my job and better with my kids. (That is my hope)
  
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- Thelaine on Jun 09, 2014
  
  @Lou_BC Loubc - I agree with all of that.
  
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