Union merger in Anderson signals end of era

Two United Auto Workers locals that once represented upward of 20,000 General Motors workers in Anderson no longer are needed, and will merge into the UAW local that represents Anderson municipal workers and Madison County workers.

Local 662, which in the 1960s boasted nearly 15,000 members at what became GM’s Delphi Corp. division, will be absorbed by the municipal workers’ Local 1963, according to The Herald Bulletin of Anderson. Delphi is closing its Anderson plant in May.

Local 663, which represented 5,000 workers in the 1970s, also will become part of 1963, now that Guide Corp., a former GM unit, has closed.

The amalgamated Local 1963 will move into Local 663’s building at Madison Avenue and 29^th Street.