UAW Dissidents Form Group to Fight Cooperation

Dissident members of the United Auto Workers union said Thursday that, as expected, they will set up a formal, nationwide organization to fight further ties between the union and U.S. auto makers.

Jerry Tucker, a leader of the so-called New Directions dissident movement, told New Directions members that the group will proceed with plans to form an organization within the union that will have its own staff and will charge dues. Tucker, who lost his bid for reelection as regional director of the UAW at this week’s UAW convention in Anaheim, is expected to be named the group’s director.

“When we leave Anaheim, we will be intact and growing as the New Directions movement within the UAW,” said Tucker. “We will lay in place ideas and plans for that growth that will be drawn from the rank and file.”

New Directions contends that cooperative programs do nothing to prevent U.S. auto makers from closing plants if market conditions dictate.