Bob King: UAW 'a force for innovation'

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Aug. 2 (UPI) -- United Auto Workers President Bob King in Michigan said it was time for employers to look at union workers as a benefit, rather than a liability.

"It would be wise … to consider the positive advantages of a positive productive relationship with a union," King said at the CAR Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

King said the landscape had changed for the UAW. Once it dealt primarily with three large U.S. automakers. Now there are seven major companies making cars in the United States, he said.

The union's primary goals had not changed, but its strategy had, King said.

"The UAW of the 21st Century is a force for innovation. We are committed to the success of our employers of our partners," he said.