BY JOHN STAGGS
ANAHEIM, California - The newly elected leadership of the United Auto Workers (UAW) took up the task of shoring up the image of the Clinton administration as a "friend of labor" at the union's June 11-16 convention here. The centerpiece of this effort was a half-hour video address by President Bill Clinton to the convention, live from the White House by satellite.
The 1,600 delegates to the UAW's 31st Constitutional Convention elected a new president, Stephen Yokich, a top official of the union since 1977. Retiring president Owen Bieber held office for 12 years.
Clinton focused his address on the administration's threat, announced in May, to impose trade sanctions against the Japanese auto industry. The government threatens to slap $6 billion in punitive tariffs on 13 Japanese-made luxury cars unless Tokyo agrees to open up its market wider to U.S.- made auto parts by June 28. "We must now act decisively to level the playing field and to protect American jobs," Clinton said.
The president also tipped his hat to the 12,000 UAW members on strike at Caterpillar. "My administration continues to walk the line with you," he declared to applause.
UAW officials and featured speakers at the convention aggressively supported Clinton's trade sanctions, highlighting this in their talks. Bieber's opening address set the tone. "Let's give a cheer to President Bill Clinton for standing up to-the free trade hypocrites - not to mention the Japanese themselves," he said.
The issues raised in Clinton's video address were reinforced in the convention's closing speech, given by U.S. labor secretary Robert Reich. Praising the administration as a "friend of labor," Reich pointed especially to the recent presidential executive order banning companies with government contracts from permanently replacing striking workers.
In his address, Yokich bemoaned that "so many members voted against themselves by voting Republican" in last year's congressional ballot.
Yokich briefly expressed solidarity with the Caterpillar strikers in his speech to the delegates. No resolutions or organized discussion on the strike reached the floor of the convention, though. One delegate proposed considering a one- day support strike. Yokich spoke against it. "The only way to resolve the Caterpillar struggle is at the bargaining table," he said.
The strike was a major topic of informal discussion among delegates and guests at the convention. After a year on the picket line, only one of the five major locals representing Caterpillar strikers was allowed to have convention delegates, as the others were behind in their dues. Those locals no longer in good standing were seated as special guests, without voice.
Three women from the Peoria, Illinois, strike support group Families in Solidarity circulated among delegates selling raffle tickets for a quilt made of strike-support T- shirts. Unable to afford plane tickets, but wanting to talk to other union members about their fight, they rented a car and drove 2,000 miles to the convention.
Yokich said that the UAW will launch an effort to organize suppliers of auto parts. Since 1979 the UAW's membership has declined by half, from 1.5 million to about 800,000. Included in this loss are 400,000 auto parts jobs that are now nonunion.
Yokich and the other top officials elected at the convention were chosen without opposition.
Media coverage leading up to the convention attempted to paint Yokich as a combative leader compared to Bieber, pointing to his authorization of strikes against General Motors in 1991. The June 11 Los Angeles Times, for instance, described him as a "fiery street fighter."
Headlines aside, media coverage also pointed out Yokich's close working relationships with auto executives in negotiating union contracts. A June 12 USA Today story quotes Ford executive vice president Peter Pestillo commenting, "He's as much a businessman as any trade unionist I have ever seen."
Warm reception to Militant
ANAHEIM, California - Supporters of the Militant who were attending the United Auto Workers convention here set up a literature table, where many delegates and guests stopped before sessions and during breaks. Convention participants bought 4 subscriptions to the Militant, 2 copies of New International, and 85 single copies of the Militant.
An article describing Nelson Mandela attending a mass rally of 70,000 in Johannesburg, South Africa, caught many delegates' attention. Special guests of the UAW from the labor movements of Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand bought a big selection of books, including Leon Trotsky's Trade Unions in the Epoch of Imperialist Decay and The Revolution Betrayed, as well as Teamster Rebellion by Farrell Dobbs and the Communist Manifesto. A total of $180 worth of literature was sold from the table.
One of the younger delegates was very interested in the Cuba Lives International Youth Festival and arranged to meet with activists building it after the convention to find out more. - J.S.
John Staggs is a member of UAW Local 1695 in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Bob Miller, a member of UAW Local 980 in Edison, New Jersey, contributed to this article.