UAW bargaining teams, 2003
UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and Vice Presidents Gerald Bantom, Nate Gooden and Richard Shoemaker will lead the UAW bargaining team during 2003 contract talks with the Big Three, Delphi and Visteon.
President Gettelfinger was elected by delegates at the UAW’s 33rd Constitutional Convention in June 2002, following a term of service as UAW vice president and director of the UAW-Ford Department.
Vice President Shoemaker was elected at the 31st UAW Constitutional Convention in 1995, and re-elected in 1998 and 2002. Vice President Gooden was elected by the UAW International Executive Board to fill a vacancy following the death of former UAW Vice President Jack Laskowski in 1999, and re-elected at the UAW convention in 2002. Vice President Bantom was elected at the 2002 convention, following a term of service as director of UAW Region 1A.
Delegates representing union members at their respective employers elect representatives of UAW local unions to the UAW national negotiating committees.
Delegates from local unions meet in a council for each of the Big Three employers, with Delphi and Visteon workers participating in the General Motors and Ford councils, respectively.
Council delegates include the president and bargaining chairperson of each local union. Each employer council, in coordination with collective bargaining departments of the International Union, prepares contract proposals in advance of negotiations. Council delegates also vote on the tentative agreements negotiated by the national bargaining committees before the agreements are presented to members for ratification.
Each employer council of the Big Three is divided into subcouncils representing functional and/or geographic sectors of their employer, such as assembly, stamping, salaried workers and so on. Each subcouncil elects representatives to the national negotiating committee for its respective employer. This process guarantees a diverse negotiating committee that represents all areas and functions of a particular employer.
Under the terms of the 1999 agreement, Delphi has agreed to mirror the GM agreement this year, while Visteon has agreed to mirror the Ford agreement this year and for one more contract cycle.
In order to establish these unique mirror agreements, the UAW-GM National Negotiating Committee will include representatives from a subcouncil including Delphi workers, and the UAW-Ford National Negotiating Committee will include representatives from a subcouncil including Visteon workers. Thus, Delphi and Visteon workers will have a full voice and vote in determining the contracts covering their workplaces.
Once the national negotiating committee at a particular company has reached a tentative agreement with an employer, the contract is presented to the council for that particular employer, and then to the members for ratification. Membership voting takes place in local unions, after informational meetings have been held to discuss the specific provisions of the contract offer.
UAW officers and the national negotiating committees are assisted during the bargaining process by UAW staff members from the relevant collective bargaining departments, and from technical departments such as Health and Safety, Legal, Research and Social Security.
