Meet the labor leader who will face off with GM - USA TODAY
DETROIT — Cindy Estrada's journey has taken her from the dusty tomato fields of central California to the bargaining table where the UAW and General Motors will forge the future of about 48,500 U. S. workers. Her career path to becoming the first woman to lead the UAW's GM department shares parallels with GM CEO Mary Barra, with whom she is meeting about once a month leading up to this year's labor negotiations. They are among the point people — two glass ceiling breakers — in upcoming labor negotiations set against the backdrop of Michigan as a right-to-work state and strong feelings among union members that wages must increase considering big profits of... With the Detroit Three flush and autoworkers feeling unappreciated, negotiations could be a real donnybrook of old, when labor and management sparred aggressively over wages and working conditions years before the Great Recession and globalization... But if for no other reason, the negotiations should be different because of the people involved: two women who ascended to top positions in what were once firmly male-dominated executive ranks of labor and management. Barra, who declined to be interviewed for this report, is the daughter of a tool and die maker who was a UAW member. Barra became the first female CEO of GM or any major auto company early last year after coming up through the ranks as an engineer on the management side. Source: www.usatoday.com
