UAW President Gary Jones promised to put the Detroit 3 auto companies "on the defensive" and "take this fight to them," as his team began private meetings to shape priorities to be presented during contract talks this year.

Striking is a real possibility for the union, which represents about 156,000 workers employed by Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, he emphasized.

"We're going into the bargaining session using every tool to protect the rights and wages of our members," Jones said. "We will do what we need to do. We will use every ounce of our leverage, every last ounce."

He noted an increase approved this week in strike fund wages from $200 to $250 a week, effective immediately. That will be utilized "if the auto companies force us to that extreme."

Workers are looking at health-care coverage, pensions, profit sharing and reducing the number of temporary workers who work at factories for years uninterrupted without benefits, Jones noted.

"We are here to protect our workers, our workforce and our way of life," he said.

The current contract expires at midnight Sept. 14.

After three days of leading the special convention on collective bargaining at Cobo Center in Detroit, which attracted more than 900 delegates and activists, Jones ended the event with a news conference that highlighted the importance of member trust and directly confronted the fallout created by the bribery scandal that led to a series of indictments and federal convictions of UAW and FCA negotiating officials.

He said he was saddened and frustrated by what happened.

"It is my responsibility from this day forward to strengthen your trust in your union," said Jones, who assumed the leadership post in 2018. "We will continue to work with authorities."

The investigation into corruption continues. Federal prosecutors have said FCA executives gave millions of dollars to the UAW and union leaders to influence 2015 contract bargaining instead of spending the money on designated worker training. Both the company and UAW have insisted that bad actors rather than a corrupt culture were to blame. A half a dozen former UAW and FCA officials have been convicted or brokered plea deals with federal officials.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gardey said in court in 2018 that Fiat Chrysler executives kept union leaders "fat, dumb and happy" to "grease the skids."

On Wednesday, Jones, who assumed the UAW presidency last year, outlined a series of "comprehensive reforms" designed to eliminate corruption and the temptation of corruption. The organization has restricted everything from travel and use of credit cards to gifts.

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The list of reforms outlined by the UAW includes:

UAW officials and employees who have established their own separate charitable organizations are banned from soliciting contributions of any kind from any employers, vendors or joint training centers.

All joint training centers, which are funded with industry money, are required to have an annual financial audit by an independent accounting firm.

Installing "stringent financial reporting and oversight" of the National Training Center operated by FCA, which had been the focus of FBI action. Ford and GM centers will be included, too.

All UAW vendor deals will be subject to a three-bid process.

UAW staff and employee spending and credit card purchases have new review and approval guidelines.

No union leader or negotiator is permitted to accept gifts, gratuities, meals, entertainment or any other thing of monetary value.

UAW financials will be certified by an independent accounting firm and submitted to the membership annually in their Solidarity magazine.

UAW and FCA officials have maintained that labor contracts were not influenced by the scandal. Prosecutors have said they don't know if that happened, but that laws were broken: auto executives were giving things to union officials when the law prohibits that.

The union has about 430,871 members, according to 2017 data. About 40 percent of today's UAW members come from outside the auto industry, including gaming, higher education and health care. Their dues boost the strike fund and make negotiation strength possible. The UAW also represents about 700,000 retirees.

The UAW strike fund exceeds $720 million.

Brian Rothenberg, UAW spokesman, said Wednesday members are highly focused amid pending closures and cuts in the rapidly changing auto industry.

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at 313-222-6512 orphoward@freepress.com.Follow her on Twitter@phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter.