DEARBORN, Mich. — United Auto Workers leaders on Wednesday nominated top Ford Motor Co. negotiator Bob King to be the union's next president, saying King is the right person to lead the union as it emerges from a tumultuous year that saw painful contract concessions and automaker bankruptcies, reported The Associated Press.

UAW members will elect a new president at a convention in June. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger is stepping down because of a long-standing union policy of officers retiring at age 65.

Gettelfinger announced King's nomination at a meeting of several hundred union leaders near Detroit. King is the nominee for the administration caucus, a group within the union led by Gettelfinger, but other groups are free to nominate candidates as well. However, Gettelfinger said he expects little opposition to King, noting that the union's executive board has unamimously endorsed the candidate.

Gettelfinger called the 63-year-old King "relentless and tenacious" and a great negotiator. "He's just a common person who believes in working people," Gettelfinger said.

King said he was humbled by the nomination. He declined to discuss his plans for the union until he is elected, but did say continued organizing to get new members into the union would be a priority.

"The more workers you have organized in any sector, the more power you have at the bargaining table," he said.

King has long been considered a possible candidate for the union's presidency. He started working for Ford in 1970 after graduating from the University of Michigan and serving in the U.S. Army. King, who also has a law degree, was re-elected to his third term as a union vice president in 2006.