AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, left, with UAW President Ron Gettelfinger looking on, says every generation must continue the fight for worker justice. Photos by Rebecca Cook.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka had a message for all working Americans in his address to delegates on the opening day of the UAW’s 35th Constitutional Convention: “Stand with us.”

“The labor movement is not an inheritance,” said Trumka, who heads the 11.5 million-member federation, which includes the UAW. “The labor movement is an achievement that every generation must fight for in response to the challenges of our times.

“Stand with us. And we will stand with you for one day longer than anyone would stand in your way,” he said to the 1,200 delegates at Detroit’s Cobo Hall.

Trumka demanded that Detroit’s resurgent automakers do right by the workers who have done right by them. “Because just as there has been shared sacrifice in periods of pain, there must be shared prosperity in periods of gain,” he said.

In addition, he noted the opportunities to represent workers at startup automakers such as Fisker Automotive in Wilmington, Del., and Tesla Motors Inc. in Fremont, Calif.

"We're building a future with clean, green union jobs and a well-trained, well-paid workforce making world-class products. It won’t be easy. It won’t happen quickly, but we can make it happen together,” Trumka said.

Trumka: 'We've got to be architects of the future.'

He called outgoing UAW President Ron Gettelfinger “a leader of extraordinary wisdom and integrity who led this union and the auto industry through some of the hardest times since the Great Depression.”

Adding that “We've got to be architects of the future,” Trumka gave a historical nod to former UAW President Walter P. Reuther, who used to say we don’t have time to look into the rear-view mirror.

And, Trumka said, “Today he’d add – not even if that mirror was built by proud autoworkers.”

Jennifer John