The AFL-CIO Executive Council recognizes the service of Ray Curry, former president of the United Auto Workers (UAW).
A North Carolina native and military veteran, Curry joined the UAW in 1992 when he was hired as an assembler at Freightliner in Mount Holly, N.C. He served on UAW Local 5285’s civil rights committee and was elected to numerous leadership positions before being hired to the UAW staff in 2004.
Curry was elected director of UAW Region 8 in 2014 at the 36th UAW Constitutional Convention after having served four years as the region’s assistant director. As Region 8 director, he was instrumental in securing new labor agreements with various parts suppliers, and helped organize the region’s first gaming bargaining unit.
In 2018, Curry was elected UAW secretary-treasurer at the union’s 37th Constitutional Convention, and in June 2021 he was elected president of the UAW by the International Executive Board upon the retirement of UAW President Rory Gamble, and led the union for nearly two years.
Ray Curry was a persistent champion of worker, civil and human rights, and he served the labor movement and America with a deep commitment to working people, and we wish him well in his next endeavors.