2006 Fall Issue - UAW-Chrysler.com

On Ramp
NTC
Welcomes
New
Leaders
Leading the way: (left to right) John Byers,
General Holiefield and James R. Coakley
A NEW ERA OF UNION LEADERSHIP
has begun for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler
partnership. The change creates new
opportunities to refocus joint programs
overseen by the UAW-DaimlerChrysler
National Training Center in order to help
meet UAW members’ needs more effectively.
This issue of Tomorrow welcomes General
Holiefield, new vice president and director of the
UAW’s DaimlerChrysler Department. Holiefield
brings extensive experience as a UAW
leader at the local and national level, having
spent the past two years as the top assistant to
UAW President Ron Gettelfinger.
New NTC co-director John Byers also brings
a fresh perspective and a diverse background to
his job. Byers was previously an administrative
assistant to UAW Vice President Bob King,
where his responsibilities included contract
compliance and negotiations .
Byers joined UAW Local 1268 at Belvidere
Assembly in July 1967. Starting on the chassis
line, he rose through the ranks to become a
chief steward, committeeman and president.
A former NTC associate co-director from
1997 to 1999, Byers pledges to target resources
for maximum impact on UAW members.
“General Holiefield and I are committed to
refocusing efforts on training and providing
meaningful opportunities that improve
safety, quality and other measures of our
success as a union and management,” he says.
Byers joins James R. Coakley as an administrative
assistant to Holiefield and member of the
UAW-DaimlerChrysler Joint Activities Board.
A 40-year UAW member, Coakley is a former
president of UAW Local 1200 at Chrysler’s
former Detroit tank plant and coordinator in
the union’s General Dynamics Department.
In the
As a forklift operator at Detroit Axle, General Holiefield learned a
lesson about himself and the UAW that still drives his agenda today:
If you feel your union needs improvement, it’s up to you to get
involved, stand up for change and make a difference.
Holiefield stood up when he became dissatisfied with his chief steward
over a representation issue. “I thought we could do better,” he recalls. At the
next Local 961 election, he ran against the incumbent and won in a landslide.
It was his first UAW elected office, but it wouldn’t be his last.
“Working in the vineyard is where it all starts,” says the 33-year UAW
veteran. “Every member should get back to basics by learning the contract,
living it, breathing it and remembering that an injustice to one is an injustice
to all. That’s what our union stands for.”
FRUITS OF HIS LABOR
Nearly 20 years after that first union election, Holiefield is a UAW vice president
and director of the union’s DaimlerChrysler Department. He was
elected to the post in June at the UAW’s 34th Constitutional Convention,
succeeding Nate Gooden upon Gooden’s retirement. Holiefield is also
co-chairman of the Joint Activities Board, which sets policy for the UAW-
DaimlerChrysler National Training Center.
Spiritual in nature yet shop-floor savvy, Holiefield has risen to near the
top of the UAW by putting members’ needs above his own. “There is a Bible
correlation that I am very much reminded of,” he says, “and that is, ‘You
can’t serve two masters.’ So I decided that I couldn’t serve myself because
you will find that you will always serve yourself more.”
Since his tenure as a chief steward, 53-year-old Holiefield has followed
this higher calling. Prior to his election as vice president, he had served since
June 2004 as executive administrative assistant to UAW President Ron
Gettelfinger — making Holiefield the first African American to serve in the
union’s top staff position.
Holiefield’s days at Chrysler began in 1973 when he hired on at the old
Jefferson Avenue Assembly Plant. Two years later he joined Local 961 after
transferring to Detroit Axle. He rose through the local’s leadership ranks,
becoming vice president and then president, first in 1992 when his predecessor
retired, and again the following year when he was elected by acclamation.
Holiefield held that position until he was appointed a UAW international
representative in the Chrysler Department two years later. He became
an assistant director and later administrative assistant to Gooden before
his promotion to the president’s office.
During 2003 national negotiations, Holiefield played a pivotal role in
hammering out a four-year agreement with DaimlerChrysler. He coordinated
the national negotiating committees and staff assignments and was
instrumental in the ratification process.
Holiefield looks forward to his vice presidency as an opportunity to have
an impact on the lives of all UAW members at DaimlerChrysler. “I know
2 TOMORROW FALL 2006 www.uawdcx.com