Ron Gettelfinger

Ron Gettelfinger was elected to a second term as president of the UAW on June 14, 2006, at the UAW's 34th Constitutional Convention in Las Vegas. He was first elected to the union’s top leadership post at the 33rd Constitutional Convention in 2002.

Gettelfinger is an outspoken advocate for national single-payer health care that would make health care accessible and affordable for every man, woman and child in the United States. In January 2006, he called for a “Marshall Plan” to renew America’s industrial base through incentives to manufacture energy-saving advanced technology vehicles and their key components in the United States. Under Gettelfinger’s leadership, the UAW has continued its fight for fair trade agreements that include provisions for workers’ rights and environmental provisions; and the union has loudly criticized the corporate global chase for the lowest wage which creates a race to the bottom that no workers, in any country, can win.

For six years he served as the elected director of UAW Region 3, which represents UAW members in Indiana and Kentucky, before being elected a UAW vice president in 1998. A member of UAW Local 862 since 1964, Gettelfinger is proud to be called a chassis line repairman. The workers at Ford's Louisville Assembly plant elected Gettelfinger to represent them as committeeperson, bargaining chair and president.

Ron is a graduate of Indiana University. He and his wife, Judy, are the proud parents of two adult children, and they also have four grandchildren.