Vice President Rory Gamble
What are some of the major issues your region is facing?
Our region is 70 percent Ford. We have IPS, TOP, General Motors and Chrysler locals, and state and health care workers as well. In every facet of the region, our members are under attack. So our challenge here is to maintain our strong political action base, maintain strong servicing to our locations and then organize. We’ve got five ACH (Automotive Component Holdings) facilities. We’re trying to work out fair deals that will provide job security by keeping them competitive and productive, and maintain fairness for our members.
You hired in at Ford in 1974. How do you feel about what’s happening at the company now?
I was a national negotiator in 1999 and in 2003. A lot of things that we talked about across the table are now coming to fruition and are hurting our membership. We talked about national health care in ’99 and ’03. We said, “Get on board with us. Let’s attack this national health care issue correctly – the two of us.” And they didn’t do it. So it’s disheartening when your membership is suffering because somebody didn’t listen.
Region 1A has a Young Workers Council. What’s its purpose?
To educate our younger workers on trade unionism, to get them more involved and aware of our roles as trade unionists. We talk about political and economic issues that affect them. We have legislators come in and talk with them. They take that back and work to strengthen their home units. They leave here with the knowledge that we are here for one thing and one thing only: the membership.
You’ve got a number of town hall meetings with elected officials coming up. But 2007 is an off year as far as elections go, isn’t it?
We don’t have any off years. We don’t have any off days. The union is under attack. Our whole way of thinking somehow has been reversed in the public eye as being something negative. Unionism is an American way of life. We want our country to be strong. We want our members and our citizens to be strong, and we do that by making sure they have economic justice. So here in Region 1A, we’re going to get back out in the neighborhoods, and we’re going to keep pressing that agenda with the public.
Where does your inspiration come from?
When I was a little boy, I met Frances Rogers. She was the first woman ever elected unit chair at a Ford facility. My dad took me to my first union meeting when I was about 7 or 8 years old. Local 600 at the time was immense. There were maybe 1,000 men at this big local hall and two women in the room. The meeting was called to order by Frances Rogers, a black woman. That just impressed the hell out of me. And I knew right then what I wanted to do: be a part of this union. I never wanted to do anything else.
