Friday, July 20, 2007

UAW's Gettelfinger Stuck Between Reuther's Legacy, `Crashing' Car Industry

(Bloomberg) -- Ron Gettelfinger, chief of the United
Auto Workers, will sit at the bargaining table with the Big Three
automakers while holding one of the weakest hands in the 72-year-
old union's history. He'll also have the shadow of union icon
Walter Reuther looming over him.

Gettelfinger started negotiating today with companies that
lost a combined $15 billion last year -- a far cry from the era
when Reuther won health insurance and pensions for the rank-and-
file during two decades running the UAW until his death in 1970.
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler now are looking
to roll back those so-called legacy costs, which include retiree
health-care liabilities of $114 billion.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

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