As Ford Authority reported back in January, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union announced that Chuck Browning, Vice President and Director of the Ford Department, would be retiring following a rather long stint there. Brown has remained on the union’s international staff since 2000 and was subsequently elected by the UAW’s International Executive Board as vice president in 2021, after which he was sworn in for a second term in 2023 through the UAW’s first direct election, in which Shawn Fain was selected as president. Now, we know who will succeed Brown as the new Ford Department director.
That person is Laura Dickerson, who currently serves as the Region 1A Director for the UAW. The UAW International Executive Board reached a majority vote that resulted in Dickerson’s appointment, and she’ll be sworn into the new position once Browning departs at the end of June. She enters this new role with nearly three decades of union experience, and will become the first African-American woman to serve as UAW Vice President. Since joining the UAW in 1997, Browning has served in a number of roles – including chairperson, bargaining team member, national negotiator with Ford, staff council vice president, and more.
“It’s been the honor of my life to serve the UAW membership,” Browning said. “I cannot express strongly enough the respect and appreciation I have for our members and for those I’ve served with. I have all the confidence in the world that Laura will lead the UAW National Ford Department with strength and integrity. She will do it with the same fire and same heart that has earned her the admiration and support from those that she has served.”
“I’m proud to take the baton from Chuck and lead the Ford Department at a time when UAW members are demanding more – and winning,” Dickerson said. “We’re not doing business as usual anymore. We’re doing things differently, and it’s working. Our members stood up, took on the Big Three, and showed the world what union power looks like. I’m ready to build on that member-led momentum, fight for even stronger contracts, and make sure every worker has the dignity, respect, and voice they deserve. This union raised me, and I’ll keep fighting every day to raise standards for the entire working class.”
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