Biographies of UAW officers
VICE PRESIDENT
JAMED SETTLES
James Settles Jr. was elected a vice president of the UAW on June
14, 2006, at the union’s 34th Constitutional Convention in Las Vegas.
He directs the UAW Aerospace, Agricultural Implements, American Axle, Guide and Transnational departments, as well as servicing for the Technical, Office and Professional (TOP) Department servicing.
Settles has served on the UAW International Executive Board since June 2002, when he was elected director of UAW Region 1A.
As Region 1A director, Settles played a lead role in successful organizing campaigns at such automotive parts suppliers as Johnson Controls, Arvin Meritor, GKN Sinter Metals, ACI, Bridgewater Interiors and Hollingsworth. He also was part of the UAW team in negotiations with Detroit Diesel and the State of Michigan.
He was appointed to the staff of the UAW in 1992 as a servicing representative in Region 1A.
Settles began his career as a trade union activist in 1968, when he joined UAW Local 600 upon starting work at Ford Motor Co.’s Dearborn Iron Foundry and Michigan Casting Center.
He was elected to positions of increasing responsibility by his co-workers, starting in 1970 with his election to the General Council of Local 600, an amalgamated local union. In 1973, he was elected district committeeperson and unit recording secretary. Two years later, he was elected unit vice president and district committeeperson and in 1977 he was elected bargaining committeeman and vice president. In 1980, his co-workers elected Settles as unit president. He was also elected as a delegate to the UAW Constitutional Conventions in 1974, 1977 and 1980.
Settles was appointed to the UAW Local 600 staff in 1982; he served as staff director in 1983 and as administrative assistant in 1984. UAW Local 600 members elected Settles recording secretary in 1987 and first vice president in 1990. He was a member of the UAW-Ford National Negotiating Committee in 1990.
A longtime political activist and Democratic precinct delegate, Settles has worked on numerous campaigns for progressive candidates and causes in southeast Michigan. In 2006, he served on the Inaugural Committee for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
A Detroit native, Settles is active in a wide range of community and civic organizations. He is a member of the Detroit-Wayne County Board of Airport Authority, the Trade Union Leadership Council, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the second vice president of the NAACP of the Detroit Chapter, the Detroit Public School Compact Association at McMichael Middle School, the Warren/Conner Board of Directors and TULC Housing Board of Directors. He is a former member of the board of the Rouge Employees Credit Union.
Settles is a recipient of the Nelson Jack Edwards Award, named in honor of the former UAW vice president, and the Man of the Year Award from the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). He attends Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church.
Settles and his wife, Karen, live in Detroit. He has three children – James III, Jamelle and Ashlynn, and is stepfather to Dennis, Anthony and Derrick Yancy.
Settles was born in Detroit on January 31, 1950. He graduated from Detroit
’s Northwestern High School and attended Wayne State University and the Detroit
Institute of Technology.
