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International Union, United Automobile Workers of America Hotel Fort Shelby-Detroit Mich. Aug 26th. Photo courtesy Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University, Detroit |
On a hot August day in 1935, 200 workers came together in Detroit with little more than a dream for a better life for America’s autoworkers. They left that meeting with a charter for the UAW.
However, it was not a piece of paper that gave birth to our union. The UAW was born of fighting for workers’ rights. It was only through persistent struggle and personal sacrifice that autoworkers won the right to collective bargaining.
Today, all of us from all sectors of our union — IPS, Skilled Trades, TOP, Agricultural Implement and Aerospace — stand on the shoulders of those brave and bold men and women who defied all odds with courage, imagination, determination and solidarity.
Over the decades, the bargaining gains won by the UAW in the areas of wages, benefits, retirement security, working conditions, health and safety, worker empowerment and family programs have set the standard for America’s workers. We have played a defining role in helping blue- and white-collar workers achieve the American dream.
But we have never been a union concerned only with another nickel in the paycheck. The democratic values and vision of the UAW for social and economic justice for all working people have also defined who we are as a union.
From fighting racial discrimination in the United States to standing against apartheid in South Africa to denouncing China’s abuse of workers’ rights, the UAW remains committed to continuing the struggle for human dignity, equality and justice for all.
As we look through these pages, we are reminded that our union was built by ordinary working people who accomplished the extraordinary because they believed deeply in the dignity of work as well as the dignity of all workers.
We can pay homage to those who came before us by paving the way for those who will come after us. As we face new and different challenges, we must do so as our brothers and sisters have done for 70 years: with courage, imagination, determination and solidarity.
~ The UAW International Executive Board
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| Ron Gettelfinger UAW President |
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| Elizabeth Bunn UAW Secretary-Treasurer |
Gerald Bantom UAW Vice President |
Nate Gooden UAW Vice President |
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| Bob King UAW Vice President |
Cal Rapson UAW Vice President |
Richard Shoemaker UAW Vice President |
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| Joseph Peters Director, UAW Region 1 |
Jimmy Settles Director, UAW Region 1A |
Bob Roth Director, UAW Region 1C |
Donald Oetman Director, UAW Region 1D |
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| Lloyd Mahaffey Director, UAW Region 2B |
Terry Thurman Director, UAW Region 3 |
Dennis Williams Director, UAW Region 4 |
Jim Wells Director, UAW Region 5 |
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| Gary Casteel Director, UAW Region 8 |
Geri Ochocinska Director, UAW Region 9 |
Phil Wheeler Director, UAW Region 9A |
