Bob King has a rough road in front of him. King is the likely heir to the United Auto Workers throne. Although lauded as an effective organizer and strategist, the UAW suffered enormously through the demise of the auto industry, and has a huge hole to climb out of. The UAW has shrunk from a high of 1.5 million members to its current historic low of about 470,000. The union shared in the blame for the demise of the auto industry, but came out of the debacle owning 17.5% of GM and 67.7% of Chrysler through its pension trust fund. King’s strategy appears to focus on community interest and savvy media promotion. Whether that will be enough to overcome the inertia of the languishing American auto industry, and a good amount of internal dissention, remains to be seen. Many are calling on the union leadership to use 2011 auto contracts negotiations to get back the concessions lost in recent years.
