LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A bronze plaque bearing a portrait of Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Automobile Workers International, hangs inside the entrance of the union hall named after him.
Each day, scores of factory workers pass by this homage to a hometown hero -- the man charged with preventing America's blue-collar autoworkers from joining the ranks of the working poor. Some come for information about their retirement pensions. Others, faced with salary cuts and diminished healthcare benefits, seek reassurance.
A few autoworkers simply head to a table and pick up pamphlets advising on ways of "dealing with depression" and "planning your future."
"It's grim in the industry," said Aaron Duke, 51, a forklift driver here at Ford Motor Co.'s Kentucky Truck Plant. "My brother works for Ford. So does my daughter, my son and my son-in-law. We have a lot to lose if the industry keeps going downhill."
General Motors Corp., Ford and, to a lesser degree, DaimlerChrysler all face swollen union payrolls, idle factories and soaring healthcare and pension costs. Gettelfinger and his UAW sit in the cross hairs of the Big Three's aim to cut employee and retiree costs as a way to survive.
UAW officials and automakers have long faced each other as adversaries. But as American carmakers see their hold on the domestic market shrinking, the union's influence has been slipping as well. Labor is now wrestling with frustrations among its rank-and-file members who are angry at both the automakers and the union leadership.
This comes at a time when the UAW, its membership roll declining, has found itself unable to organize workers at U.S. plants operated by foreign car companies.
A generation ago, things were vastly different. In the mid-1960s, American automakers controlled 95% of the U.S. market and sales of imports were a statistical blip. But foreign brands, led by Toyota Motor Corp., steadily won converts with innovative designs, better fuel economy and a reputation for reliability. By 2005, foreign makes accounted for 43% of U.S. car sales, while the Big Three's share shriveled to 57%.
Foreign automakers also opened 27 North American plants -- employing 134,000 workers -- but most are nonunion. By last year the UAW's membership had fallen to 557,000 from 1.5 million in the 1970s.
