DETROIT — The UAW International Executive Board on Tuesday selected Region 9 Director Terry Dittes as a UAW International Vice President, replacing Norwood Jewell who retired Dec. 31.

UAW President Dennis Williams congratulated Dittes, who brings bargaining experience at the local, regional and national levels, and experienced leadership to the job.

Dittes will serve out the remainder of the term and stand election to a full term in June at the UAW’s International Constitutional Convention. Dittes has experience as a local union leader, a servicing representative, as head of the UAW’s International Gaming Department and as a regional leader.

Dittes has served as Regional Director since a special convention held on March 26, 2014 in Buffalo, New York. He was appointed assistant director of UAW Region 9, which covers western New York, New Jersey and most of Pennsylvania, by UAW President Bob King and Region 9 Director Scott Adams in April 2013.

Originally hired in at the General Motors’ Fisher Body Plant in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1978 as a member of UAW Local 731, he later transferred to the General Motors Parts Warehouse in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, as a member of UAW Local 585. He became a member of UAW Local 2177 when that unit of GM Parts was granted its own charter.

“It is an honor and privilege to represent the women and men of the UAW as their Vice President. At every bargaining table and every meeting, my focus will always be on the economic fairness, health and safety, and job protections that all UAW members and their families deserve for their hard work and their community’s well-being.”

In 1992, Dittes was elected chairperson of the bargaining committee at Local 2177. He was re-elected as shop chair for two more consecutive terms. He was appointed to the Region 9 servicing staff in August 1999 by President Stephen P. Yokich and Region 9 Director Geri Ochocinska. In February 2012 he was appointed assistant director of the UAW’s International Gaming Department.

Dittes married his wife, Gail, in 1979 in Warwick, Rhode Island. They have six children:  Melissa, Amy, Ryan, Kevin, Matthew and Teresa. They also have five grandchildren:  Dominick, Vincent, Gabrielle, Annabelle, and Victoria,  as well as two sons-in-law, Nick Esposito and Ryan Gordon, and daughter-in-law Lindsay Dittes. Terry and Gail and his entire family reside in Levittown, Pennsylvania.