Task force exec Ron Bloom can see all sides in auto fight

DETROIT -- His résumé may not be packed with car industry experience and political know-how, but in a few short weeks, Ron Bloom has become one of the most powerful people in the auto industry.

Bloom, assistant to the United Steelworkers union president until February, now is one of the leaders of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, the group charged with determining by March 31 how much — if any — more government aid the U.S. auto industry will get.

The task force has been neck-deep in meetings with executives, labor leaders, bondholders, think-tank experts and lawyers trying to determine what, exactly, should be done.

Friends and colleagues describe Bloom as smart, straightforward and passionate about making manufacturing viable in the United States. He left a lucrative Wall Street career in 1996 for less than $87,000 a year at the union.

"There is nobody in the unique position to bring capital, management and labor together to transform their business into ongoing capital concerns," says Mike Psaros, managing partner of KPS Capital Partners.

He also speaks his mind, says Psaros, who's known Bloom 20 years.

"He always tells the truth, and I don't know how that's going to play in a politically charged restructuring," Psaros says. "He tells people objective facts they don't want to hear."

Rattner, by contrast, is known for political savvy and weighs his words.

"I don't know that he has a deep background in automobiles, but he's someone who brings a very smart business sense to the table," says Darrell West, a Brookings Institution analyst who's known Rattner 20 years. "He is a team player who will help build consensus."