General Holiefield (June 6, 1953 – March 9, 2015) was an American labor union leader. Born in

Middletown, Ohio Middletown is a city in Butler County, Ohio, Butler and Warren County, Ohio, Warren counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 50,987 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area in sou ...

, Holiefield was known as "Rob" while growing up, but in adulthood went by his legal name of "General". In 1973, he found work at

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

's Jefferson Assembly Plant in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. He joined the

United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and sou ...

(UAW), and after he was fired from his job, the union helped him reclaim the position. This inspired him to become active in the union, and in 1993 he was elected as president of his local. In 1995, Holiefield began working full-time for the UAW's Chrysler Department, initially covering servicing, and then from 1997, as Appeals Board Co-ordinator. In 1999, he became an assistant director of the department, and then in 2002 assistant to the vice-president. In 2006, he won election as vice-president of the UAW, leading its Chrysler Department, the first African American to hold the post. Holiefield led the union's negotiations with Chrysler on pay and conditions, and in 2009 helped persuade

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's automotive task force to give aid to the company, rather than liquidate it. In 2010, he was additionally elected as a vice-president of the

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

. In 2012 and 2013, he agreed to longer shifts for workers at Chrysler, something which was unpopular with union members. In 2011, Holiefield was arrested in connection with domestic violence, but no charges were pressed. In 2013, he shot his wife, in what he described as an accident which occurred when he was cleaning his guns. He took a leave of absence for a month, and when he returned to work, he was soon diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and took early retirement in 2014. He died the following year. Holiefield also served on the board of directors of the NAACP, and held membership of the Michigan Democratic Party. In 2017, Holiefield's wife, and his negotiating counterpart at Chrysler, were indicted over a fraud in which they embezzled more than $2 million of Chrysler money. His wife was later sentenced to 18 months in prison for her part in the crime.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holiefield, General 1953 births 2015 deaths American trade union leaders People from Middletown, Ohio Trade unionists from Ohio United Auto Workers people Vice presidents of the AFL-CIO