UAW former GM VP Cindy Estrada was part of an investigation by federal officials about the potential misuse of union funds. She now heads up FCA.
In one of his first moves, Gary Jones, the newly elected United Auto Workers president, tapped three new vice presidents to handle day-to-day relations and negotiations with Detroit three auto workers, and the choices included a few surprises.
Jones shifted Cindy Estrada from the General Motors Department, the first woman to head what has been long regarded the union’s flagship department, to lead negotiations at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. Department.
Jones said he selected Estrada for Fiat Chrysler because the work force is younger and more technically savvy then their counterparts at GM and Ford, which have not hired as many new employees as FCA.
“Vice President Estrada has done organizing, she’s done General Motors department, now she’s got the Chrysler department,” said Jones, as Estrada stood beside him during an afternoon press conference. “She’s well-rounded and well-suited for the job.”
(New UAW chief takes office with full war chest. Click Here for the story.)
Terry Dittes is taking over as vice president of the GM Department for Cindy Estrada.
The FCA department has been hit hard been hit hard by the scandal three union officials have been indicted on charges of embezzlement or misusing the joint funds with which they were entrusted. The widow of General Holiefield, the former head of the Chrysler Department, also has been indicted and the union has confirmed that several union staffers have been removed from their posts.
Norwood Jewel, Holiefield’s successor, also resigned in December after the FBI searched his home near Flint. Estrada reportedly also has been questioned as part of the DOJ probe, which is continuing.
Terry Dittes, who stepped in to replace Jewel in January, takes Estrada’s old role heading the GM Department. The move was made despite the fact that he got high marks for negotiating a settlement that protected the jobs of more than 70 drivers at FCA’s Jeep Complex in Toledo. FCA had planned to outsource the drivers’ jobs before a union protest.
(Click Here for more about how UAW leaders are struggling with credibility in wake of UAW-FCA scandal.)
Dittes, however, also was a GM employee from the beginning of union career when he hired in at now-shuttered GM plant in Trento. N.J. and has worked at other GM plants as well.
Rory Gamble is taking over for Jimmy Settles as vice president for the UAW's Ford Department.
Negotiations will open in 12 months and Jones said Rory Gamble will head up the union’s Ford Department. Gamble is well-versed at the situation in Ford, having served as the understudy to Jimmy Settles, the head the Ford Department for the past 12 years.
Gamble started his union career as an officer at UAW Local 600, which represents workers at the Ford Rouge Complex and has been member of the union’s executive board as director of UAW Region1A around Detroit, which has heavy concentration of Ford plants. Jones said the moves mimic what other large organizations do.
(Feds charge former FCA executive in ongoing UAW investigation. Click Here for the story.)
“If you look at what a lot of the other major corporations do and other structures do, they move their senior executives from department to department to gain a lot of experience,” he said.