<![CDATA[Jalopnik: Ron Gettelfinger]]> http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jalopnik.com.png <![CDATA[Jalopnik: Ron Gettelfinger]]> http://jalopnik.com/tag/ron gettelfinger http://jalopnik.com/tag/ron gettelfinger <![CDATA[UAW President Ron Gettelfinger To Retire In 2010]]> UAW President Ron Gettelfinger to retire in 2010. [Freep] More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5175359&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[UAW: Senate GOP Voted Against Bailout To Strike "Blow Against Organized Labor"]]> At a press conference today, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger read an e-mail indicating Senate GOP members played political games, voting against the auto bailout bill as an attack against organized labor. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5108340&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Caption This: Rick And Ron Edition]]> More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5101931&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[UAW President Ron Gettelfinger Flying To DC, Hates American Taxpayers?]]> Jeff Gilbert with WWJ 950 AM had a chance to talk to UAW President Ron Gettelfinger just minutes ago after a meeting with UAW local heads on reexamination of their contracts (including nixing of the Jobs Bank, as we'd predicted) with the not-so-Big Three. Gilbert asked him what he'd be doing next. His response? He's heading to the airport tomorrow morning. That's right, while the CEOs of each of the U.S. automakers are driving to tomorrow's Congressional hearing, Ron'll be flying the friendly skies to Washington, DC. Apparently either the UAW hates the American taxpayer or Ron's just not so much into symbolic gestures given he doesn't have a corporate jet. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5101446&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[UAW In Talks To Kill Jobs Bank?]]> We just received a hot-off-the-wires report from the WSJ that the UAW is currently in talks with some of the not-so-Big Three to kill the "Jobs Bank" program. The program, a bane of contention by everyone but the UAW and it's membership since the inception of unionized labor at automakers, basically pays workers when they're not working. Good for the membership? Sure. Good for the automakers? Not so much. Good for everyone's image? Not in the least. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5100255&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[UAW, Obama Riding McCain On Owning Foreign Cars Like Rest Of Country]]> Sen. John McCain took heat yesterday from UAW president Ron Gettelfinger for three of his thirteen vehicles being foreign-made. Now McCain's taking heat from the Obama campaign in a new attack ad so heavily protectionism-flavored, it's a good thing the ad's just running in the Great Lakes state. Yes, Michigan, a land that unlike the rest of the nation, remains a magical place where American cars still outsell foreign cars. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5053555&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Gettelfinger Heads To Ford Motor For Labor Talks]]> Labor talks between the UAW and Ford are ramping up as UAW President Ron Gettelfinger arrived at Ford headquarters this morning to participate in the negotiations. Chrysler and GM have already settled their contracts for the next four years, but both automakers had to deal with brief strikes while negotiations were finalized. A UAW strike deadline for Ford is expected soon, but it's likely that an agreement will be reached before a strike becomes necessary. Ford is expected to seek more concessions than GM or Chrysler received, as the company lost $12.6 billion last year. Both Ford and the UAW say they hope they can conclude negotiations this week. [The Detroit News] More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=316815&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[UAW Chairman Ron Gettelfinger Makes It Clear: "The UAW Is On Strike"]]> We've been talking to a few PR folks from the General today — trying to make heads or tails of the impact of the UAW's decision to hit the picket lines against GM. And each one of them told me they didn't believe the UAW had actually gone on strike and that it was some kind of a mistake or something. The cacophony of noise coming out of the RenCen that this wasn't really a strike was so high a number of local and national newscasts had tickers running across the bottom of the screen stating that a 12:15 PM press conference by Ron Gettelfinger was to tell people there wasn't a strike. (Heck, check this out — even GMInsideNews bought into it.)To each of them we explained "we were just there in Lansing — there's nobody on the assembly lines there — you know that, right?" Well, UAW chieftain Ron Gettelfinger was unambiguous and clear at the press conference — to, you know, dispel any of these faulty PR staffer notions that they aren't out on the lines:
"The UAW is on strike...we have no intention of removing UAW workers from the picket line..."
More of what else "Rowdy Rowdy" Ron Gettelfinger had to say after the jump. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=303015&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[GM And UAW Try To Play Nice Too]]> Man, the UAW totally gets around, don't they? After UAW chieftain Ron Gettelfinger shook hands with Tom "Keeps The Weight Off" LaSorda on Friday, now he's shaking hands this morning with the general over at the General. So, just as we asked you to do twice already for the Chrysler group, now's your turn to help us caption this GM-UAW handshake of automotive titans. Keep your browsers here at the UAW tag if you want to see the Alan "Boeing, Boeing, Gone!" Mulally handshake later today. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=281281&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Tom LaSorda And Ron Gettelfinger Shake Hands, Agree To Try And Play Nice: Take Two]]> Thanks to Nick Bunkley over at the New York Times, we're hearing the handshake between Tom LaSorda and Ron Gettelfinger was so nice they allowed the photographers to take it twice. We're told it was to accommodate the crushing numbers of folks seeking to snap a shot of history in action. We, on the other hand, think it's obviously out of a desire to show off these two handsome men of industry (and labor). So since y'all enjoyed it the first time, now here's your second chance to help us caption this photo. [via NYT] More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=281016&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Tom LaSorda And Ron Gettelfinger Shake Hands, Agree To Try And Play Nice]]> Since no reporters were allowed into the "photo op" of the Gettelfinger-LaSorda handshake, and since it's Friday we figured it's time to have some fun. So why don't you help us caption this photo of the beginning of UAW-Chrysler negotiations? More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=280857&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[ A "square deal" drives the UAW? Maybe they...]]> A "square deal" drives the UAW? Maybe they should be worried more about retaining three "square meals" a day? [Freep] More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=279006&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Gettelfinger Pats GM On Head For Delphi Agreement]]> The man in charge of the UAW doesn't for a moment credit Delphi for the agreement worked out at the end of last week between the union, the auto parts supplier and General Motors. Nope, he's giving some mad praises to the General, saying this morning on a local Detroit radio station:
"If it weren't for [GM Money Man] Fritz Henderson and his team...then this agreement never would have come about..."
Aww, isn't that adorable to see Ron playing all nice and stuff with GM? Yes, we think so. But don't ask us what he said about Delphi — ooh, those two never get along! – Ray Wert More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=271925&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Gettelfinger Says UAW Needs To Give Cerberus-Backed Chrysler Some Cheddar Back]]> The chieftain of the UAW was asked this morning by a local Detroit radio station whether the UAW was prepared to meet with Chrysler desires for health care concessions equivalent to those given to FoMoCo and the General. His response was "we do need to find a way to fix the problem there now that Chrysler is in a downward mode." Well — at least he's willing to help the new toy owned by Cerberus when it's down. That's better than the former standard UAW practice of the swift kick to the mommy-daddy button when an automaker is on its knees. – Ray Wert More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=269778&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Continuing The Chrysler Group Sales Speculation: What Gettelfinger Wants, Gettelfinger Gets!]]> For every new day it seems like we're getting more and more speculation, rumor and non-news on the potential for a Chrysler Group sale. Today's batch comes over the back fence to us from Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal. The Journal's reporting that the more-equal-than-others side of the German-American hybrid is looking to have a short list of potential suitors for the 'merican side by the general shareholder meeting on April 4th in Berlin. Whether or not it'll be a late April Fool's Day surprise is anyone's guess. Bloomberg News on the other hand is reporting some non-news in the form of an interview with UAW President Ron Gettelfinger on WJR-AM in Detroit. Gettelfinger's reported as saying he thinks it'd be a good idea for DaimlerChrysler to retain the second half of it's name,
"We want to keep Chrysler Group in the family...I'm not ready to concede Chrysler Group is going to come out of DaimlerChrysler."
Strong words there Ron — now what are you going to do about it? Vote against it at the board meeting perhaps? Ok, so that means the vote will be everyone minus one in favor of cutting Chrysler and one against. – Ray Wert More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=243851&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[UAW's Gettelfinger Waxes On Ford, Gives No Opinion On Chrysler-GM Combo]]>
Apparently the way UAW head honcho Ron Gettelfinger sees it, there's really nothing to say about this whole GM-buying-Chrysler bug everyone's caught. Earlier today on WJR Radio in Detroit, the chieftain of the auto workers said "I have absolutely no opinion on that at all...It may end up that it's not sold. Who knows?" That may make Ron the one industry insider out there who's truly calling it as they see it — because really, other than that one person who knows "better than anyone else covering the business out there" — who the hell really knows what's going on right now, or what it means in the long run? But what we do know is that industry navel-gazers have been concerned about what the UAW's reaction is and it sounds like they should just take a step back and wait, because it doesn't look like Ron or is his organization's ready to, or even has, any cards to show on it. But whereas the G-unit's mum on Chrysler and GM, he does know he's not going to be giving the third of the traditional big three any slack in negotiations beginning this summer. G-money's quoted as saying:
"They just went through this huge financing. They've got a ton of cash. They've got great leadership at the top of that company...they've made some tough decisions but so...
More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=238606&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[UAWeb 2.0: Union Chief Heads Online To Answer Questions From Membership]]> It would appear even those titanic old-timers of the manufacturing industry, the UAW, is looking for a better way to answer membership questions — and it includes an online Q&A with UAW prez Ron Gettelfinger. The union boss addressed a number of topics in the online discussion today on the UAW web site including pensions, the Metro Detroit automakers and the union's strategy going into next year's contract negotiations. No word on whether he also addressed the question of relevancy — but hey, it's a start. – Ray Wert More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=216513&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Gettelfinger As Soup Nazi: "No More Concessions For Delphi!"]]> Well, it's close enough to warrant the picture — but can you blame the UAW chief? Ron's watched as 54,000 of his members took early retirement or forced to take up to a 50% cut in salary — while at the same time, 467 white-collared workers received a bonus for you know, not letting the company slide into the darkness during bankruptcy. So we guess we can understand why the guy'd be of the opinion that: More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=206541&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Breaking! UAW Holds Special Super-Double-Secret Ford Meeting]]> UAW leadership for all FoMoCo plants in the US met yesterday afternoon under direction of UAW head Ron Gettelfinger and Bob King, the new veep in charge of contract talks with the Dearborn-based automaker. Although local leaders speculated the topic of the meeting was buyouts, specifically the company-wide kind — no one knew for sure. The Freep's Sarah Webster reports the meeting focused on what might be done to help the automaker with as many ailments as autos and the UAW's statement backs that report up: More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=197580&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Breaking! UAW Strike At Delphi Still An Option]]> Ron Gettelfinger, UAW President and potential next spokesperson for "Just For Men Gel", responded to questions from reporters today during a break in a hearing on Chinese trade practices at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The most important question asked was whether the UAW Prez saw a strike as a possibility. Ron's response: More »
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