To be waged mostly in the facilities operated by Asian carmakers in the US, particularly by Toyota, this new UAW offensive comes only a few days after the "pound Toyota" directive from the new president.
"You're going to see a lot more activism and a lot more involvement of the membership, whether it's dealer actions, whether it's legislative actions, whether it's in broader coalitions," King said in an interview with Reuters.
"We're going to ask people of conscience to stand up and tell Toyota to stop abusing workers, that preventing workers from exercising their First Amendment rights is wrong."
King, who is now the 10th UAW president, was in charge of the National Organizing Department between 2002 and 2006. It is obvious that, unlike some of his predecessors, who focused on saving UAW jobs by giving in to manufacturers, King's approach will be more proactive, even aggressive at times.
"So whether it's through diplomatic channels, whether it's through consumer actions, whatever, we're going to stand with and behind any workers looking to have the right to organize and the right to bargain," King added.
The most recent call to arms from King materialized into an attempt to picket Toyota’s dealerships in the US, in response to Toyota’s closing of the New United Motor Manufacturing (NUMMI) plant.
According to King, Toyota closed NUMMI because the workers there are UAW and will open the facility in Mississippi, TMMMS, where the workers to be employed are not UAW members.
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