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UAW Region 5

Covers 17 states in the Western and Southwestern United States: Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Alaska, Washington and Hawaii.

Director: James Wells

Headquarters:

721 Dunn Road
Hazelwood, Missouri 63042
TEL: (314) 731-2800
FAX: (314) 731-2729

Region 5 Retired Workers Center:

6500 South Rosemead Blvd.
Pico Rivera, CA 90660
TEL: (562) 801-1500
FAX: (562) 801-1555

Sub Regional Offices:

1341 W. Mockingbird Lane, Suite 301W
Dallas, TX75247-6913
TEL: (214) 267-6550
FAX: (214) 267-6565

6881 Industrial Loop
Shreveport, LA 71129
TEL: (318) 688-4020
FAX: (318) 688-4023

3841 North Oak Trafficway
Kansas City, MO 64116
TEL: (816) 455-0200
FAX: (816) 455-0205

45201 Fremont Blvd.
Fremont, CA 94538
TEL: (510) 656-9901
FAX: (510) 656-9904

6500 South Rosemead Blvd.
Pico Rivera, CA 90660
TEL: (562) 801-1500
FAX: (562) 801-1555

2228 Shadowlake Drive, Building J
Oklahoma City, OK 73159
TEL: (405) 691-4900
FAX: (405) 691-0857

Region 5 Local Unions on the Web

Local 31
Based in Kansas City, Kan., the 3,000 active members of Local 31 make the Chevy Malibu at GM's Fairfax Assembly Plant. The local also represents 2,700 retirees.

Local 148
Local 148 represents 2,600 active members who work at McDonnell Douglas/Boeing Aircraft in Long Beach, and Carson, Calif., where they build military and commercial aircraft including the C-17 and 717. Founded in 1942, the local’s retiree membership is 7,800 strong.

Local 218
Based in Hurst, Texas, the 1,900 members of this local build the Cobra, V-22 Osprey, Huey and OH-58 helicopters for Bell Helicopter. Local 218 was chartered in 1953 and has 2,700 retiree members.

Local 249
Local 249 represents 5,000 UAW members at Ford Motors’ Kansas City Assembly Plant in Pleasant Valley, Mo. Members build the Ford F-150 Super Cab, F-150 Super Crew Cab, and F-150 King Crew Cab, as well as the new Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute sport utility vehicles. Local 249 membership also includes 200 active members from the Kansas City Parts Distribution Center in Lenexa, Kan., 10 nurses at the assembly plant and approximately 2,000 retirees.

Local 276
Local 276 represents 2,800 workers at GM’s Vehicle Manufacturing Assembly Plant in Arlington, Texas, where they build the Tahoe, Yukon and Escalade sport utility vehicles. Based in Grand Prairie, Texas, the local was chartered in 1954 and includes 2,700 retired workers.

Local 282
This amalgamated local, based in St. Louis, Missouri, comprises 14 bargaining units and represents 1,200 members at nine companies. Over 100 retirees are active in the local's retirees' chapter.

Local 848
This local dates back to 1943 when workers at North American Aviation in Grand Prairie, Texas, joined the UAW. Today, Local 848 members work at Lockheed, Raytheon and Vought.

Local 1999
This is the local that represents General Motors assembly workers in Oklahoma City, Okla. Includes a wealth of up to date information and features.

Local 2166
This Shreveport, La., local represents workers making the Chevy S-10, GMC Sonoma and the Isuzu Hombre light duty pick-up trucks. About half the members were hired locally and the other half transferred in from other General Motors plants.

Local 2865
This Association of Graduate Student Employees (AGSE/UAW) represents student workers at University of California campuses across the state. The graduate students do most of the teaching and other tasks that keep the University running.

Director: James Wells

James B. Wells Jim Wells was elected to a fourth term as director of UAW Region 5 on June 14, 2006, at the union's 34th Constitutional Convention in Las Vegas. He was first elected regional director in 1995 and re-elected in 1998, and again in 2002.

Region 5 covers Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. He served as assistant director from 1989 to 1995.

Wells was appointed an international representative by then-UAW President Owen Bieber in 1985, and served four years on the Region 5 staff. He has been a UAW member since 1966, when he was hired at the General Motors plant in St. Louis, and became a member of UAW Local 25.

Wells had been elected as an alternate committeeperson in 1970. He served from 1972 to 1982 as a member of the local's bargaining committee.

In 1982 Wells transferred to GM's new assembly plant in Wentzville, Mo., where he was elected as chair of Local 2250's shop committee, serving until 1985.

Wells' assignments and responsibilities as an international representative included servicing General Motors' facilities and a number of independent plants in the St. Louis area.

Wells, who was born June 16, 1946, and his wife, Jane, live in Bethalto, Ill. They have three daughters.