UAW Elects Secretary-Treasurer Williams To Union Presidency

Cameron Aubernon
by Cameron Aubernon

Automotive News reports the United Auto Workers has elected secretary-treasurer Dennis Williams, who served in the role under now-retired president Bob King, as the union’s new president in a 3215 to 49 vote during the 36th UAW Constitutional Convention in Detroit. Williams, who came from the agricultural wing of the union, is the first union president not to have worked in the automotive industry.

The new president will have a number of challenges before him, including organization talks among the Detroit Three in 2015, political elections this year and 2016, and a new attempt at organizing the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. after a major loss in the February 2014 election held at the plant; Williams was involved in the first organization attempt. UAW regional director Gary Casteel will take Williams’ place as the union’s secretary-treasurer.

In other union news, the UAW has signed a new contract with supplier Dana, covering 2,500 members in its 11 plants within the United States for the next three years. The supplier also announced expansion plans for its headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, which will add 40,000 square feet to the 191,000 sq-ft facility at a price of $7 million to $10 million by 2015. Once complete, 200 additional employees will be employed in the expanded building, some 175 of whom will have relocated from a nearby facility two miles away.

Cameron Aubernon
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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