Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, please allow me to express my sincerest gratitude to UAW President Ron Gettelfinger for his leadership during this extraordinary moment of transition for the U.S. auto industry. His strength, composure, intellect, and resolve have turned a new day for this bedrock U.S. industry. Ronald A. Gettelfinger, born August 1, 1944, was elected to his first term as president of the UAW at the 33rd Convention in 2002. He was elected to a second term on June 14, 2006, at the UAW's 34th Convention in Las Vegas. A son of the midwest, Ron Gettelfinger is a 1976 graduate of Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, Indiana. He began his union involvement in 1964 in Louisville, Kentucky, at the Louisville Assembly Plant run by Ford Motor Company while working as chassis line repairman. The workers at Ford's Louisville Assembly plant elected Gettelfinger to represent them as committeeperson, bargaining chair and president. He was elected president of local union 862 in 1984. In 1987, he became a member of the Ford-UAW bargaining committee. Afterwards, he held other positions: director of UAW Region 3 and the UAW chaplaincy program. For six years he served as the elected director of UAW Region 3, which represents UAW members in Indiana and Kentucky, before being elected a UAW vice president in 1998. Ron has been an outspoken advocate for national single-payer health care in the United States.…”