Fiery Gettelfinger knocks GOP in final address

BY BRENT SNAVELY UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, whose style as president has been to downplay his own role and give credit to his staff and members, lashed out against corporations and anti-union forces during his final speech as president today. ettelfinger said the UAW and other unions can and must continue to work together to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to form a union.

“Most employers have vigorously opposed unions with every means at their disposal,” Gettelfinger said during the union’s 35th Constitutional Convention in Detroit. “These pro-employer, anti-union forces continually attack unions and workers that want to form a union.”

Gettelfinger said anti-union efforts reached a high-point last year as the domestic automakers needed federal loans to stay afloat.

Still, Gettelfinger said the UAW and other unions will continue to work to reform labor law and organize workers around the world.

“In the end, we will prevail,” Gettelfinger said.

Gettelfinger also singled out Republican legislators for opposing aid to the domestic auto industry in 2008 and 2009.

“Let’s be clear, the contempt for the UAW was so deep that some of them were willing to let the industry collapse in the hopes that they could destroy us,” Gettelfinger said. “Even the former president recognized the insanity of what they were willing to do.”

Gettelfinger also praised President Barack Obama, who came to Detroit on Labor Day in 2008 as a U.S. Senator to show support for the UAW.

Once elected, Gettelfinger said, “Obama addressed the auto crisis and took the necessary steps to prevent the collapse of the industry.”