Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick:
UAW speaks truth to power
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said he visited the Special Convention on Collective Bargaining to thank UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and the union for the time and dedication spent fighting for working people.
“The eyes of the world are watching,” Kilpatrick said.
Gettelfinger and the UAW are not afraid to stand up to corporate America or “speak truth to power.”
Described by UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles as a friend of working people, the Democratic mayor told delegates “stay strong, because the contract negotiated at the bargaining table effects workers everywhere and impacts the global economy.”
“Be like my grandfather told me you would be,” Kilpatrick said.
“Be strong and you demand an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work.”
Kilpatrick’s grandfather was a member of UAW Local 600. The union, the mayor said, helped his grandfather raise a family and offer hope to two generations.
“He came to Detroit from South Carolina, He raised five children, sent one daughter off to Congress and had a grandson become the mayor of Detroit,” he said.
Because of the UAW, Kilpatrick said, “my grandfather dared to dream.”
FROM THE FLOOR
Scott Bailey Clifthorne
Local 2865 president
University of California
Who they are: These 12,000 graduate teaching assistants, readers, tutors and undergraduate academic student employees are part of the union’s technical, office and professionals (TOP) sector.
What’s new: “The UAW is actually the industry leader for organizing academic student employees. About 100,000 UAW members are workers at TOP locals.”
His issue: “The 2006 midterm elections were huge for us. It seems pretty clear that the Employee Free Choice Act will be vetoed if it passes the Senate. So I think it takes a change at the top level.”
Niels Chapman Jr.
UAW Local 5287 president
High Point, N.C.
Who they are: In 2005 these Thomas Built Bus workers voted for union representation in an NLRB-supervised election after a card check the previous year was challenged by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
His issues: “The Employee Free Choice Act is a powerful tool. It gives us the flexibility to make decisions, to choose collective bargaining agreements. For some, the union can be a hard pill to swallow in a right-to-work state. Sometimes an individual might think, ‘I can get this for free.’ I tell them nothing’s free. Our roads don’t get paved for free. We can’t take our eyes off what matters.”
