Who is Ray Curry?: A profile of the new UAW president and chief conspirator against the Volvo Trucks strikers
On Tuesday, the United Auto Workers International Executive Board announced that Ray Curry, the union’s secretary treasurer, will replace the retiring Rory Gamble as UAW president. His term will begin on July 1 and run until the next UAW Constitutional Convention in June 2022.
Curry will be the fourth president of the UAW within the space of a little over three years. Two of Curry’s predecessors, Dennis Williams and Gary Jones, were sentenced to prison terms for their role in the UAW corruption scandal. Gamble had been the subject of a federal investigation but was never indicted.
United Auto Workers union announces end to mask requirements in auto plants
On Tuesday, the United Auto Workers union announced it would be ending mask requirements for vaccinated autoworkers beginning July 12. The announcement came after a meeting of the COVID-19 Joint Task Force, composed of representatives from the UAW, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler Automobiles).
The move will almost certainly increase infections both in the plants and in surrounding communities in the coming weeks and months. In the state of Michigan, factories and construction sites have consistently ranked among the top sources of outbreaks over the course of the pandemic, behind schools and day care facilities. As recently as March and April, massive outbreaks took place at Stellantis’ Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) and Sterling Stamping Plant. At one point, more than 10 percent of SHAP’s workforce of 7,000 was out at the same due to exposure, and at least one Sterli
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Photo: AP (Getty Images)
The UAW said Monday that Ray Curry, its current Secretary-Treasurer, will succeed Rory Gamble as president of the union after Gamble steps down on Wednesday. Curry has long been seen as the favorite.
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“It is a great honor for me to serve this historic union and the more than 1 million active and retired members,” Curry, who will be the union’s second Black president, said in a statement on Monday. “I am so proud of our UAW sisters and brothers who work every day to better not just their own lives, but the lives of their neighbors and communities. As president, I pledge to continue to build upon our commitment to a culture of transparency, reforms and checks and balances.”
United Auto Workers
Ray Curry is taking over leadership of the United Auto Workers at a critical juncture in the union’s history.
The UAW’s International Executive Board on Monday named Curry as union president, replacing Rory Gamble, who retires Wednesday.
Gamble led the 397,000-member union through a bribery and embezzlement scandal and the coronavirus pandemic, during which the union agreed to keep auto factories running with numerous safety precautions.
He was the union’s first Black president, and the 55-year-old Curry will be the second.
There are questions about safety protocols as the coronavirus pandemic wanes and about shortages of critical parts such as computer chips that have crimped auto production.