DETROIT (AP) — Retiring United Auto Workers President Rory Gamble says it's critical that electric vehicle component plants be union and pay top wages.
Gamble retired this week after leading the union through a bribery and embezzlement scandal and the coronavirus pandemic.
He says he's leaving the union in good shape, with financial safeguards in place to prevent corruption.
Despite skeptics who say the union will shrink because electric vehicles take less labor to build, Gamble expects membership to grow.
He says the UAW should be able to hold auto jobs steady by organizing battery and electric vehicle parts plants.
But it will grow in other areas such as higher education and casinos.
