Gettelfinger Re-Elected UAW President

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on Gettelfinger won a second four-year term as president of the United Auto Workers, as the union confronts issues of job cuts at U.S. auto and parts plants face demands for pay reductions at their largest parts supplier, Bloomberg reported.

Delegates at the union's convention in Las Vegas re-elected Gettelfinger, 61, in a voice vote Wednesday. He ran unopposed after being endorsed in December by the union’s administrative caucus, Bloomberg said.

The election comes as General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the two biggest U.S. automakers, plan to trim a combined 60,000 jobs in North America by 2012.

The Detroit-based union also is in three-way talks with GM and Delphi Corp., GM’s biggest supplier, which is seeking bankruptcy court approval to void its UAW contract.

Gettelfinger said in a June 12 speech at the convention that the union “will not surrender,” while acknowledging that members must make painful choices, such as paying more for health care, Bloomberg reported.