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Bob King, UAW's 10th President

Bob King, UAW vice president in charge of the national Ford section has been nominated by a group of union officials to succeed Ron Gettelfinger as UAW president next year. According to DetNews, King's presidency is nearly insured following the union's convention in Detroit next June.

"There's no question in my mind that he is absolutely the best person to lead this union. He is just a common person who believes in working people," the current president, who is not eligible to run again due to his age, was quoted as saying by the source, following the nomination.

King on the other hand did not gloat at the appointment and limited himself at saying he feels humble to have been named. The plans he has for the union will not be made public until the actual election takes place.

The 63 year old will take on a difficult task, as the UAW has been one of the most battered worker groups in the world. The UAW has lost nearly 70,000 members this year.

"We feel like basically we have bottomed out from the standpoint of autos membership. Organizing is a tough job, but we are hopeful we are making some progress. We do have some things going on in organizing that we're very hopeful about," Gettelfinger said.

King joined the UAW in 1970 as a worker for Ford's Detroit Parts Depot. In 2006, he was named head of the union's section and is credited with bringing in some 66,000 new members in the UAW in between 2002 and 2006.

Among his biggest failure's is this year's Ford proposed contract to its workers. At one point, King was even said to have clashed with the workers.

"He spoke and was booed," one worker, who asked not to be identified, said after Ford Kansas workers rejected the deal. "There were a lot of 'No's!' It was a very loud meeting."
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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