Labor Bargaining Paper

I interviewed Nick D who is a friend of my roommate’s family in Indianapolis, and was more than willing to help. He believes that the public often has very misconceived perceptions of labor unions.

Mr. D was recently appointed to be 1 of 3 trustees for United Auto Workers 1111, and will be serving for the next year. He told me that the full name of the union is The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, but they go by the much simpler United Auto Workers. The United Auto Workers has over 500,000 active members. United Auto Workers Local 1111 serves 600 hourly employees of Automotive Component Holdings, LLC (ACH) in Indianapolis, Indiana. The gender make up is mostly male, but racially pretty evenly split, Mr. D also told me how the United Auto Workers was the first major union to organize African Americans. Mr. D can be contacted at work by calling 1 (317) 359-9585.

Mr. D is responsible for safeguarding the local union's assets and assuring that the finances are handled in accordance with the United Auto Workers Constitution, by-laws and code of ethics. Specifically Mr. D works as an internal auditor and keeps the treasurer in check. A few of his duties are to keep a complete inventory, hold accounting records for all assets, verify all investments, and determine that such items are properly titled to the local union. He also is responsible for determining that adequate insurance, such as fidelity bonds, fire, burglary and liability, is carried for the protection of the local. A few more specific duties Mr. D mentioned were: reporting the attendance to membership and executive board meetings, as well as determine that all receipts from fund-raising activities are properly recorded on local's records. Mr. D said depending on the time of year he could spend 10-25 hours a week carrying out these specific duties, and because of the large commitment he is paid for his work but refused to comment on the amount. Mr. D in fact stressed that he did quite enjoy most all of his duties, and that’s why he holds the position he does. He did say that the one part of the job he did not particularly care for was memorizing the United Auto Workers Code of Ethical Practices, their local union's constitution and by-laws.

Mr. D’s main responsibility is not to deal with membership services, but said that the major concerns for United Auto Workers members are; the devastated auto industry, the reduction of wages and benefits, and constant buyouts looming. The United Auto Workers are very active because auto dealers are not selling cars they need to be bailed out and they are putting a lot of pressure on the industry and the government to do so. Currently the average

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