UAW Boss Tells Big 3 To Ready For A Fight

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger warned companies on Tuesday not to misinterpret his union's past cooperation as a sign of weakness.

In a speech kicking off the union's two-day national bargaining convention in Detroit, Gettelfinger said the UAW would fight at the bargaining table, in the courts, politically and "if need be, on the picket line."

Addressing 1,500 members from multiple industries who will help set the union's bargaining priorities, a defiant Gettelfinger said the union does not want to strike, but will if necessary.

"We will do what we have to do," he said. "Make no mistake about it. Collective bargaining is not collective begging."

Convention delegates from more than 800 UAW locals in the U.S. and Canada were not expected to get into the nitty-gritty of what will be discussed with individual companies, yet crucial contract talks with the Detroit Three automakers loom.

In his speech, Gettelfinger acknowledged that the UAW has faced continued challenges since its last bargaining convention in 2002. He cited DaimlerChrysler AG's announcement in February that it would consider selling its U.S.-based Chrysler unit.

"We have equity and hedge funds circling our head as never before," he said.

Gettelfinger accused hedge and equity funds of "stripping and flipping" companies they buy.

"Our union is on guard to protect the best interests of our membership," he said.

Outside the convention center where Gettelfinger spoke, about 20 union members and retirees carried signs protesting UAW concessions to domestic automakers.

The UAW's main employers — GM, Chrysler and Ford — have posted billions in losses during the past two years and are expected to demand major concessions from the UAW.

Among the issues are health care costs for active and retired workers, wages, work rules and the jobs bank, in which laid-off workers get most of their pay.

Gettelfinger said nothing about concessions Tuesday, adding that the union would not respond to speculation from analysts and others about what the UAW should do.

Gettelfinger also called for universal health care for all, as well as for fair trade agreements.

"It would be a grave mistake to equate our actions to capitulation," he said of past cooperation with employers.

Membership in the UAW and other unions nationwide continues to decline.

The UAW's membership peaked in 1979 at 1.5 million, but has been dropping ever since. The union said it had an average of 576,000 members in 2006, down from 598,000 in 2005.

Last year, the number of unionized workers in the U.S. fell by 326,000 to 15.4 million, or about 12 percent of the work force.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the union membership rate has dropped steadily from 20.1 percent of the work force in 1983.

Gettelfinger recently announced during an Internet chat with members that the union would renew its efforts to organize so-called transplant manufacturing operations. The UAW has had little success in organizing U.S. plants run by the Detroit Three's main competitors, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

Gettelfinger on Tuesday also called on the U.S. Senate to approve legislation that allows workers to vote to join unions by signing cards.