Gary Casteel was elected UAW Secretary-Treasurer at the 36th Constitutional Convention in June 2014.

Casteel, a UAW member since 1988, was first elected director of UAW Region 8 in June 2002, at the 33rd UAW Constitutional Convention in Las Vegas. He was re-elected in 2006 and again in 2010.

Region 8 covers Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware and four counties of Pennsylvania.

Casteel was a member of Steamfitters-Pipefitters, Local 760, in Muscle Shoals, Ala., for eight years prior to joining UAW Local 737 when he was hired as a pipefitter-welder at Ford Glass in Nashville.

In the early to mid-1990s he served on the Local 737 bargaining and on the negotiating teams for the Modern Operating Agreement. In 1996, he also served as lead negotiator between the local union and Ford Motor Co. Casteel was twice elected vice president of UAW-Ford Subcouncil No. 3 and three times as skilled trades representative.

A member of UAW Local 3036 in Memphis, Tenn. Casteel was appointed to the staff of the International Union in 1997 by UAW President Stephen P. Yokich.

After his appointment to UAW staff, Casteel serviced UAW members at Saturn, Ford and various independent parts firms, as well as supporting retired union members and activists in UAW CAP Councils.