RETIRING OFFICER:
SECRETARY-TREASURER ELIZABETH BUNN

This Solidarity issue celebrates the union’s 75th anniversary. Is there a particular time in UAW history that affected you the most?

The world has changed unbelievably dramatically in the 75 years the UAW has represented working people in this country and around the globe, and each moment has presented its own set of unique challenges. I’m confident our founders would not recognize the auto industry or the global economy of 2010. But I’m also confident that our best years are ahead. Just as our predecessors refused to surrender in the face of what seemed overwhelming difficulties, our future leaders will face the future with hope, determination, courage and kindness. With all the changes, our fundamental mission remains the same: to create a world that recognizes the value of every working person and that fosters the hopes, aspirations and well-being of future generations.

Why are unions just as important today as they were in 1935?

The economy of 2010 is characterized by an extreme imbalance of power between the transnational corporate elite who control the world’s wealth and the workers who create it. Individual workers are powerless against these corporate titans. To create balance and opportunity, workers need a collective voice to counteract corporate power. Only by acting collectively through unions they democratically choose to represent them can workers secure justice and opportunity. This is the same basic reason workers chose to act collectively through unions in 1935.

What would you say to someone who is considering joining a union?

I would ask what was important to the worker at work and whether he or she had any workplace problems. I would ask whether the worker had any questions about union representation or the process of collective bargaining. And, if interested, I would describe my own experience with the collective bargaining process and how that process is both democratic and rational, and provides the only way for workers to have a voice in determining workplace conditions.

What is your fondest career memory?

I have far too many wonderful memories to name just one. I have enjoyed and cherished every set of collective bargaining negotiations in which I have been engaged and every organizing drive in which I have participated. UAW members and workers who want to become UAW members continue to inspire me every day.

Name two things you’re looking forward to in your retirement.

I continue to look forward to working for social justice as part of the labor movement. And, in my spare time, I hope to have more time for reading, listening to music and enjoying family and friends.

Joan Silvi

RETIRING OFFICER:
UAW VICE PRESIDENT CAL RAPSON

This Solidarity issue celebrates the union’s 75th anniversary. Is there a particular time in UAW history that affected you most?

I’d say 2009. I’d been an elected official since 1970 and appointed in 1982. I went on to be the top administrative assistant to Stephen Yokich, then an assistant director, a regional director and a vice president since 2002. But nowhere in my career was there a more demanding and crucial time than helping GM secure the government loans and emerge from bankruptcy.

Why are unions just as important today as they were in 1935?

Just as back then, we need to start bringing up wages, benefits and standards of living. It’s important that we grow the middle class again. Union members get better wages, better benefits. But more importantly, a union member isn’t an ‘at will’ employee. They’re represented in the workplace, and they have a seat at the bargaining table with true input in their own futures.

What would you say to someone who is considering joining a union?

There just isn’t a good enough reason not to try and better your working conditions and secure your and your family’s future. Nothing in life comes with a fireproof guarantee, but there is one thing I know for certain: The men and women of the UAW are dedicated to building better lives for our members and all working people.

What is your fondest career memory?

There have been a whole lot of memories, and mostly all of them good. But two memories stand out. One was a Sunday afternoon in July 1998 when the trucks carrying the dies came down Bristol Road [in Flint, Mich.] going back to GM’s Metal Fab plant after the strike. That was a good day. Another memory is when we were negotiating in the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, D.C., right across from the White House. Ron Gettelfinger and I got to take a break and go over to the White House and meet with President Obama.

Name two things you’re looking forward to in your retirement.

I’m looking forward to the usual, being able to spend more time with my family and not having to make more than an hour commute every day. But this is all very bittersweet for me. I enjoy what I do for this union and our members. There is nothing I would rather have done than the work I’ve been able to accomplish working for this great union.

Gwynne Cobb