CINCINNATI BENEFITS FROM UAW ACTIVISM
Siuda counts on local to reach March for Babies goal
Every so often in life you come across an individual who is quietly making a powerful impact in their communities. Jim Siuda is one of those people.
For more than 10 years, the UAW Local 863 member has devoted his time and energy to the March of Dimes annual fund-raising walk March for Babies in and around his hometown of Cincinnati.
Siuda has no personal stake in the organization’s mission to reduce the number of premature deliveries and birth defects. His adult children and four grandkids were all carried to term and born healthy. But he does it anyway.
"I just felt I had to do something," he said. "We had been involved for a long time," said Siuda of the local’s March of Dimes activities. "But it had kind of fallen by the wayside."
As chair of the education committee, Siuda significantly increased participation in the event. He teamed with other UAW members, including Debbie Swopes-Johnson, at Ford Motor Co.’s Batavia Transmission facility, and Sharonville (Ohio) Bargaining Committeeman Darrell Gildea, father of a premature child.
They identified people in the plants whose children had benefited from the March of Dimes and featured families in posters, which they hung around the worksites.
Siuda also got area Ford dealerships to provide vans to March of Dimes volunteers 10 days before (and on the day of) the walk, and arranged to have new Ford vehicles on display at the event.
"The March of Dimes is a charity that both the company and the union support," said Siuda. "And it helps educate the public and shows them we’re part of their community, particularly in the face of what we’re going through now in the auto industry."
Though he retired from Ford in December, Siuda remains Local 863 vice president and editor of The Transmitter, their newsletter, which garnered two UAW-Local Union Press Association awards last year.
Now co-chair of the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky March for Babies, his responsibilities have grown to include devising the walk route, coordinating with emergency medical teams and three police departments, and overseeing logistics volunteers.
Siuda’s efforts are paying off. The Cincinnati-area walk attracts some 10,000 to 12,000 participants each year who raise nearly $1 million.
But that’s not good enough. Siuda’s goal for this year’s walk is to exceed the $1 million mark.
"The number of premature births in the greater Cincinnati area is higher than the national average," said Siuda. "I want everybody in the community to benefit from the research dollars we generate so we can eliminate birth defects and premature births."
He knows he can count on Local 863 members to help him reach that goal.
In addition to their support for the March of Dimes, each year the local raises the most money in per capita donations for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.
Members also participate in the United Way’s Adopt-a-Child program, committing to spending $100 on each child at Christmastime, and give generously to food banks and other charities.
"Our membership is fantastic," said Siuda. "They are blessed with the jobs they have and they know it, and they’re willing to share it."
