One marcher missing

There was one marcher missing from this year’s Labor Day Parade in Detroit: our friend and brother Stephen P. Yokich, who was taken from us all too soon, just weeks after he retired as president of the UAW.

Steve Yokich led our Union during a period of unprecedented economic and political challenges. He was extraordinarily skilled at adapting to changing times and changing circumstances, and extraordinarily committed to a core vision of social unionism: organizing the unorganized, representing our members as forcefully as possible at the bargaining table, and speaking out strongly on social issues that affect all working families in this country and abroad.

As a third-generation UAW member, Steve often said, “This union is in my blood.” His mother, Julia, a UAW activist, took Steve on his first picket line when he was only 22 months old. Steve’s greatest trait is that he never forgot where he came from and he never lost sight of the worker on the line, whether he was in a boardroom or at the bargaining table.

All of us who were fortunate to serve with him in leadership roles learned volumes by watching Steve in action at the bargaining table. No one could make a stronger case for our members and their families, and at the same time, no one understood better that it was in our best interest to build long-term partnerships to enhance the future of workers and companies.

Steve bargained landmark agreements for job security, employee involvement in product quality, profit-sharing, health care and retirement security. He was also a leader in winning contracts that included what he called “people programs” — innovative programs in employee assistance, education and training, joint health and safety, child care and elder care assistance, tuition assistance for workers and their children, and more.

Steve Yokich took UAW bargaining another rung up the ladder, from bargaining for workers to bargaining for workers, their families and their communities. Simply put, Steve set the standard in collective bargaining.

“Organizing is everyone’s job in this union.” Steve not only repeated that slogan often, he lived it. He cared passionately about building our Union, and as director of the UAW Organizing Department in the 1980s, he led the campaign to diversify our Union by bringing Michigan state employees into the UAW.

When it came to politics, Steve was adamant that he was not a Democrat or a Republican, but a trade unionist. He believed that the UAW should stand and fight for those politicians who stand with working people and he spent a lifetime doing that. In the 1999 UAW-Big Three negotiations, Steve bargained for and won a paid day off on Election Day for UAW members. No one understood better the power of mobilizing our members to get the vote out on Election Day.

Thousands, including UAW local union members, community and political leaders, and company executives, waited in line for hours to pay their final respects to Steve and to extend their sympathy to the Yokich family. It was a tribute to a great trade unionist who had touched the lives of many, many people.

Steve will never be far from our hearts, especially when working men and women gather to celebrate the dignity of work and the common bond of solidarity. His achievements in collective bargaining, political action and community service have touched the lives of people all over the world.

Throughout his lifetime, Steve worked to build a strong and inclusive labor movement. He has left an enormous foundation for us to build on. This issue of Solidarity is dedicated to his legacy, and to the memory of our brother and tireless fighter for working families.

Ron Gettelfinger
President, United Auto Workers