UAW reports strike fund balance at $874M

UAW reports strike fund balance at $874M

	Published : Fri, 19 Jan 2007 23:53 By : Agencies Print this Story

DETROIT (AFX) - The United Auto Workers union's strike fund was a healthy $874 million in November, but it was $40 million less than what the union reported at the end of 2005.

The November balance was revealed during an hourlong Internet question-and-answer session Friday between UAW members, President Ron Gettelfinger and Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn.

It comes as the union heads into critical contract talks with automakers this summer, with its master contract expiring in September.

Gettelfinger and Bunn didn't make clear where the $40 million was spent, but at the UAW convention in June, delegates voted to transfer $50 million from the strike fund to general operations and to increase the dues rebates that union locals get when the strike fund exceeds $550 million.

A UAW official later confirmed that the $50 million transfer from the strike fund took place at the end of June.

Sean McAlinden, chief economist with the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, said it's clear the UAW's operational expenses at present are more than its revenue from dues and other sources.

'Clearly they are not downsizing at the speed that the dues are,' he said. 'General revenue earned from the dues is actually probably falling, and they would rely on this operating money.'

In 2005, the latest year of financial reports on the UAW Web site, the union spent just more than $42 million from its strike fund, but the fund took in roughly $86 million.

The fact that the balance has shrunk doesn't mean much because a large general strike is unlikely, McAlinden said. If it came to a strike against one of Detroit's Big Three, the UAW would likely target component plants that would choke off the flow of parts to plants that assemble popular vehicles, he said. Such smaller-scale 'bottleneck' strikes wouldn't have much of an impact on the strike fund, he said.

Also at the Las Vegas convention, delegates decided to spend up to $60 million from the strike fund mainly for organizing efforts during the next four years.

Bunn said in the Internet chat that the union is putting together plans for the organizing drive that will be submitted to the UAW's international executive board after the contract talks are concluded. The union has not yet drawn on the $60 million.

'We will report out to the convention delegates in 2010 exactly how this money has been expended,' she wrote.

The union says it had an average of 598,000 members in 2005, and that the number will decline in 2006. It's down from a peak of 1.5 million in 1979.

In response to a question, Gettelfinger and Bunn wrote that the union is targeting higher education employees, health care workers in Michigan with the Michigan Nurses Association, and gaming employees for organizing efforts.

'Our strategy highlights organizing where we currently have power, strength and density. It also encourages coalitions with other unions,' they wrote.

Bunn and Gettelfinger also said 20,000 home-based child-care providers have joined the UAW in Michigan. He said the UAW intends to raise their wages and get them affordable health insurance and respect on the job.