The United Automobile Workers' convention opened in Las Vegas on Monday, with leaders and members in a familiar fighting mood, but with a new battle plan aimed at protecting what they have rather than gaining new ground. The change reflected the falling fortunes of Detroit's automakers, a new reality that the union's president laid out for members both in his speech and in a written report that the UAW issued on Sunday.
See "Somber Tone and Protest as U.A.W. Convenes", Micheline Maynard, The New York Times, June 12, 2006