Your new leadership team: Vice presidents Joe Ashton, left, Jimmy Settles, Cindy Estrada and General Holiefield, and President Bob King and Secretary-Treasurer Dennis Williams. Photo by Rebecca Cook.

More than 1,200 delegates to the 35th UAW Constitutional Convention in Detroit overwhelmingly elected Bob King to succeed Ron Gettelfinger as president Wednesday in a display of union democracy in action.

Members roared approval for King who will be sworn in to a four-year term as president Thursday.

King prevailed by 2,115.095 to 74.549 in a roll call vote against challenger Gary Walkowicz, 61, a UAW Local 600 bargaining committee member at Ford Motor Co.'s Dearborn Truck Plant.

The constitutionally required roll call vote lasted more than one hour and ended with this statement from Gettelfinger:  “Ladies and gentleman, you have just witnessed democracy in action.”

King, 63, has been a UAW vice president since 1998 and headed the UAW's National Ford and Independents, Parts and Suppliers (IPS) departments since 2006. He played a major role in both the UAW Ford 2007 National Agreement and the 2009 modifications to the agreement.

Sharon Maxcy, Sue Pratt and Laura Janis, all nurses from the St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center unit of Local 12, show their ethusiastic support for our new president. Photo by Rebecca Cook.

Delegate Bernie Ricke, president of UAW Local 600 – King’s home local – nominated him.

“The support from Region 1A was always there whether you were a mine worker from Pittston, a Steelworker from Ravenswood or a UAW member from Caterpillar. Bob’s leadership meant getting himself and many of his friends arrested in acts of nonviolent, civil disobedience to publicize and support the Detroit newspaper workers’ fight for justice,” Ricke said.

“While we’re all proud of his accomplishments, he always reminded us that there are no personal victories. Only through the strategic use of our institutional power and the solidarity of our membership and leadership will we win the social and economic justice that all workers deserve,” he added.

Re-elected a vice president in 2002 and 2006, King’s leadership of the National Organizing Department assisted nearly 80,000 workers in their efforts to join the UAW. He pioneered the use of innovative neutrality and majority signup with employers giving workers the right to join the UAW without interference from their employers.

Delegate Vera Newton of UAW Local 862 in Louisville, Ky., praised King’s leadership skills and the diversity of his team.

“I see women and I see minorities, and I see strength. With this team, we can reach from one generation and pull up our next generation,” Newton said. “I have a concern that our next generation doesn’t understand what our union forefathers went through. King’s team is the bridge that connects his father and our fathers to our children – a connection from the old to the new.”

Delegates also elected by acclamation UAW Region 4 Director Dennis Williams to the post of secretary-treasurer. He succeeds retiring UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn.
 
Delegate Kevin Johnson, UAW Local 807 president in Burlington, Iowa, nominated Williams.

“Dennis has the uncanny talent to see what needs to be done, plan a strategy and then follow through until the goal is achieved,” said Johnson. “He proves his love for the labor movement daily through his tireless passion for CAP, organizing campaigns, his professionalism in negotiations and the way he connects with the members.” (CAP stands for Community Action Program, the union’s political affairs department.)

Williams was elected director of UAW Region 4 at a special convention in 2001 and re-elected in 2002 and 2006 at the union’s Constitutional Conventions in Las Vegas. Region 4 includes Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Convention delegates re-elected by acclamation incumbent UAW vice presidents James Settles Jr. and General Holiefield, as well as new vice presidents Joe Ashton and Cindy Estrada. Ashton is director of UAW Region 9, which covers western and central New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Estrada is director of the union’s National Organizing Department. She becomes the union’s first Latina vice president.

Settles was nominated by delegate Ed Mitchell, president of UAW Local 6000, representing State of Michigan employees.

“We need strong leadership to see our union through these difficult times. Vice President Settles has always demonstrated great leadership,” Mitchell said.

Delegate Yvette Thompson-Gordon of UAW Local 1435, who nominated Holiefield, said “The phoenix is rising. While we are still are not quite out of the woods yet, still we can rest at ease that the right leadership is at the helm.”
UAW Local 2327 President Fran Smith of Bridgeport, N.J., called Ashton a very competent and effective leader, as well as a great organizer, when he placed his name in nomination.

“Make no mistake, casino owners, Joe and this union will have those workers under contract, and he will not give up until there is a contract for casino workers,” said Smith, referring to the union’s three-year struggle to achieve first contracts at four casinos in Atlantic City.

Delegate George Taylor of UAW Local 2121 – who works at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn. – has high expectations from the new leadership.

“I’m expecting this team to continue to improve and grow our union and bring in new locals like ours, Foxwoods dealers, and use us as a springboard to get more dealers organized and strengthen the working class. We need to get the working class back to where it was.”

Robert Ramirez of UAW Local 600, Dearborn, Mich., nominated Estrada.

“She has risen from organizing to be the director of UAW National Organizing … I love her aggressiveness, assertiveness, compassion and her warm heart. She brings youth and energy to our movement,” Ramirez said, adding: “Si, se puede!  Si, se puede! Si, se puede! (Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!)”

Vera Newton says the leadership's diversity is a strength that will help draw younger people into the union. Photo by John Davis, UAW Local 2195.

Mayra Muñoz, president of UAW Local 1850 – one of the oldest locals in Puerto Rico representing AELA workers, the Commonwealth government workers credit union –  said she was proud of the new team.

“I’m taking a good experience with me and to be able to share with members the democratic process that our union has and it was put to work,” she said.

Also by acclamation delegates elected UAW Local 863 President Phyllis Blust to serve a six-year term as an International trustee. She fills the position vacated by Tito Sanchez.

Floyd Mason Jr., chair of UAW Local 863, Cincinnati, nominated Blust.

“Phyllis has been a member of Local 863 for 33 years. She was the first woman elected vice president of Local 863, and in 2005 was the first woman president of Local 863,” he said.

Jennifer John
Gwynne Marie Cobb, Sandra Davis and Joan Silvi contributed to this story.