UAW leadership picks New President

[rickaren]

UAW leadership picks King as next union president

Posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 2:57 PM EST.(Employee News)

The top officials from the United Auto Workers on Wednesday unanimously endorsed a successor to President Ron Gettelfinger, who has led the union through a tumultuous decade marked by declining membership, historic concessions and automaker bankruptcies, Reuters reported.

UAW officials named Vice President Bob King to succeed Gettelfinger, who has reached 65 and under UAW policy could not seek re-election at its national convention in June, the news service said. King has long been seen as the likely successor to Gettelfinger even after workers soundly rejected a recent tentative agreement he negotiated with Ford Motor Co. that union critics said would have given away too much, Reuters said.

King, 63, was nominated for president by the steering committee of the UAW’s administrative caucus as the preferred candidate to succeed Gettelfinger at a meeting at a Detroit-area hotel, the news service said. The nomination of King remains subject to a vote at the UAW’s convention set for June, but the candidate backed by union leaders traditionally has not faced serious opposition, the story said. (Reuters)