October 15, 2025
Day Two of the UAW Region 8 Leadership Conference
text and photos by UAW Region 8 Webmaster John Davis

The second day of the 2025 UAW Region 8 Leadership Conference kicked off at 8:00 AM on Wednesday, October 15 from the Clearwater Hyatt Regency. This conference is designed to provide local union leaderships with updates from the Region and the International UAW. Being Red Shirt Wednesday, the delegation turned out in all red.

Day Two began with a welcome from UAW Region 8 Assistant Director George Palmer. “We are fortunate to have Secretary Treasurer Mock, Vice President Laura Dickerson, Vice President Mike Booth and Vice President Rich Boyer here this week,” Assistant Director Palmer stated. “We are proud that we have diversity in our International Executive Board. As I look out across the room, I see more female representatives among the ranks of our Region 8 leadership. I want all the females in the room to stand and be recognized.”

Director Smith also welcomed the participants and lead the delegates through the “Who Are We” chant for our visitors.

Casandra Shortridge of the UAW Compliance Department kicked the plenary sessions off with a discussion on the UAW Ethics Hotline. “The Ethics Hotline gives our members an opportunity to report things they feel are wrong,” Casandra Shortridge stated. “We recognize there have been mistakes made in the past and we are working to insure these don’t happen again. Our members need a process to voice their concerns and the Ethics Hotline provides that process.”

The Ethics Hotline number is 877-866-9682.

Director Tim Smith came forward to introduce the next speaker. “Vice President Laura Dickerson is a trail blazer in the UAW,” Director Smith stated. “She was the first African American female to be elected as Regional Director. Then she became the first African American female to be elected as a Vice President. Vice President Dickerson and myself go back a long way and it is a honor to have her with us today.”

“I like to remind people that while I may have been the first African American female to be elected Region Director and Vice President, I wont be the last,” Vice President Dickerson stated. “I recently had the opportunity to visit our members at Local 862 in Louisville. It was a pleasure to walk the floor and see our members building world class vehicles. A recent announcement of the new EV platform for 862 is great news for our future. Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Agricultural Implement sub council in Georgia. There are lots of organizing opportunities for agricultural manufacturers in Region 8. I have assigned someone to work on organizing these manufacturers in Region 8. The outlook for Agricultural Implements for the next two years isn’t good. We have to work to bring more of this work back into the United States."

For a print quality of the group photo, click here.