UAW history

When the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the CIO merged in 1955, Reuther retained important leadership positions.

Friction between the two men caused the UAW to withdraw from the AFL–CIO in 1967, with the UAW joining the International Brotherhood of Teamsters the same year.

Reuther and his wife were killed in a plane crash in 1970.

Dissatisfaction with the corruption in the Teamsters, however, led to dissolution of the alliance in 1972.

A second round of increases was launched in 1978, leading to a greater demand on the part of auto buyers for Japanese imports and a significant drop-off in the sale of United States-made cars.

1979: Membership in the union peaked at close to 1.5 million, and begins steady decline.

In 1981 the UAW reaffiliated itself with the AFL–CIO. Union members subsequently had to concede some of their hard-won economic benefits to help American car manufacturers compete against foreign imports.

Walter Reuther and the Rise of the Auto Workers (1984).

In addition, under his watch the Canadian section of the union, angry over concessions made to the Big Three, seceded from the UAW in 1985.

The UNITED AUTO WORKERS, officially the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Workers, represented over 60,000 workers in Cleveland by 1986.

The Detroit People Mover, a light-rail system serving the central business district, was completed in 1987.

In 1989, he was put in charge of relations with GM and was successful in launching strikes against parts-making and car assembly plants that resulted in GM meeting the union's demands.

The situation persisted into 1995, when the UAW represented 57,000 auto workers in eastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania.

In 1996 the UAW began a new era of negotiations with the three major American automakers—GM, Ford, and Chrysler.

Although it enjoyed a bump in membership in 1999, the first increase in a decade, the ranks continued to thin.

Following Yokich's retirement in 2002, Ronald A. Gettelfinger was elected the UAW's president.

In 2003, rather than singling out one of the Big Three in an attempt at pattern bargaining, he worked out an agreement with all three automakers simultaneously.

The union's difficult situation was highlighted in 2004 by the adoption of cost-cutting measures, which included the cutting of its work force at headquarters and in regional offices by 15 percent, to be achieved by attrition.