UAW members to vote in fall on direct election of leaders
The United Auto Workers union’s 397,000 members will vote by mail this fall on whether they want to pick their leaders in direct elections
DETROIT -- The United Auto Workers union's 397,000 members will vote by mail this fall on whether they want to pick their leaders in direct elections.
In a posting on his website, union monitor Neil Barofsky says ballots will be mailed by an election vendor starting at 10 a.m. Oct. 12. They must be returned by 5 p.m. Nov. 12.
They'll be counted as soon as possible, and Barofsky will announce the results.
Barofsky was appointed by a federal judge as part of a settlement that avoided a government takeover of the union after a wide-ranging corruption scandal. The vote on direct election of leaders also was part of the settlement.
Currently, union leaders are chosen every four years at a convention, with the delegates picked by local union offices. But the new slate of leaders is picked by the outgoing president, and seldom is there serious opposition.
