Local UAW furniture leader at shuttered Ford plant

Eleven months after the Ford Motor Co. plant shut down, the UnitedAuto Workers union hall remains open across the street. But the UAW's high-profile local leader, who regularly flashed astud earring, Hawaiian shirts and give-'em-hell wordplay, isleaving. Chris Kimmons, who joined the Norfolk Assembly Plant in 1964 as atrim-line worker, has served as president of Local 919 for the pastsix years. That position no longer will exist after today. Since the plant closed in late June, Kimmons said he's helpedcounsel bewildered ex-workers and sorted through options for thosewho had initially passed up transfers and buyouts and remained onthe payroll. His work is done. But Kimmons is glad that, at least for a while,919 will live on. For now, the UAW will keep the red-brick union hall on SpringfieldAvenue, allowing retirees to continue to meet there monthly, andLes Shaw will remain as the local's benefits coordinator. Kimmons said he lobbied for that. "When you call all thosetoll-free numbers - hit 1 now, hit 4 now - and you're not reallysavvy, it's so much better to talk to somebody one-on-one," hesaid. That's what he loved about his job, too - helping workers facingproblems with their boss or hitting roadblocks trying to get a dayoff. "It might have seemed like a small thing, but it was the No. 1thing to them," Kimmons, 66, said. "A million and onedifferent problem-solvings I tried to take care of - that will begone. Who am I going to help now?" He'll also miss the spotlight - flying to national meetings,getting up close with politicians and UAW bigwigs. On the up side, Kimmons won't have the commute to and from his homenear the Oceanfront. And now he'll have more time for skiing andshag dancing. "It's sad, but I know I've got to leave," he said."I've got 43 years. I've got to get out of here." By midweek, Kimmons' office was emptied of most of its Furniture Door Studs. A trove of memorabilia remained to be packed. Photos of him withdignitaries including former Gov. Mark Warner and his successor,Timothy M. Kaine. A collection of political buttons, all pro-laborand pro-Democrat: Stop union-busting. Vote for Dukakis. Bush forpresident - in Japan. In the upcoming election, "I'm still behind Hillary," hesaid of Clinton. But Kimmons said he will gladly vote for BarackObama if he is the Democratic nominee. He had tried to attract new members for the local after the plantclosed, but it was a hard sell. "People are scared of theiremployer," he said. "The biggest word isintimidation." Membership is declining among most unions, including the UAW. Lastyear, union members accounted for 3.7 percent of Virginia's wageand salaried workers, down from 9.3 percent in 1992, the U.S.government reported in February. Unions, he said, might never return to their peak, but they alwayswill fill a need. "I'll say it till the day I die: Every American should berepresented by someone," Kimmons said. "The managementpeople can make you feel pretty bad with what they say and whatthey do. You need a big brother there to take up for you." Lee Piercy, a 22-year veteran of the Ford plant, called Kimmons"the best president we've had." "He's never been afraid to go up against the company,"said Piercy, 50, of Chesapeake. "There was never a time Iasked him to do anything for me that he didn't come through." Local 919 was chartered in 1941, 16 years after Ford opened the NorfolkAssembly Plant. It's been at the Springfield Avenue building, justa few feet from the main entrance of the plant, since the mid-'60s,Kimmons said. When Ford announced in April 2006 its plan to closethe plant, Local 919 represented about 2,600 workers at Ford andthree local suppliers. The city of Norfolk assessed the value of the building, owned bythe international UAW, at $371,900 as of last summer. In a report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor in January,Local 919 listed assets of $590,600, including $219,000 in cash.The total was significantly down from the $1.1 million reported ayear before, Kimmons said, because the local had begun transferringaccounts to the UAW administration. Kimmons said he didn't know when the UAW would discontinue Shaw'sposition as benefits coordinator and sell the building. RogerKerson, a spokesman for UAW in Michigan, did not return phone callsthis week. Not surprisingly, Kimmons lays the financial troubles facingautomakers, including Ford, at management's door. He doesn't acceptcriticism that pay and benefit packages for workers have been toogenerous. "The employees should get a piece of the pie," he said."They're working their butts off to make a qualityvehicle." Life after Norfolk Assembly hasn't been kind for most formermembers of Local 919, he said. "I haven't heard the first one say they're making moremoney," Kimmons said. Some, he said, have gone from $28 or $29 an hour to $15 or $16,with no benefits until they finish their first year of service. Today, Kimmons probably will take one more look at the old plant.It doesn't get easier. "There's no noise," Kimmons said. "It's just thequietness of the place." And the emptiness. "You can see all the way from one side tothe other." No racks of trucks blocking your view. No lines of workers in trimand chassis.

The floor still features a line of footprints, designed to keeppeople clear of forklifts. "No one's going to be walking downthem anymore," Kimmons said.