Challenger wins close race to lead United Auto Workers union

Mar 25, 2023, 11:58 AM | Updated: 3:22 pm

DETROIT (AP) — A challenger defeated the president of the United Auto Workers in a close election and vowed Saturday to take a more confrontational stance in negotiating with the big automakers.

A court-appointed monitor declared challenger Shawn Fain the winner over incumbent Ray Curry. Fain’s slate of candidates won control of the big union, as workers rejected most incumbents in the wake of a bribery and embezzlement scandal

It was the 372,000-member union’s first direct election of its 14-member International Executive Board, which came in the wake of the wide-ranging scandal that landed two former presidents in prison.

The vote count had been going on since March 1, and the outcome was uncertain going into Saturday because of challenges against several hundred ballots.

Curry had filed a protest alleging election irregularities and campaign-financing violations. But he conceded Saturday and said Fain would be sworn in on Sunday.

Fain said members clearly wanted the union to become more aggressive in dealing with the auto makers.

“Today we put the companies on notice the fighting UAW is back,” Fain said in a video.

Fain vowed to end two-tiered contracts that provide lower pay and fewer benefits for some workers. He said the UAW will fight against factory closures that result in lost union jobs.

“We’ve seen plant after plant close without any serious fight from our union,” he said. “We’ve lost 40% of our active membership over the past 20 years. That ends here.”

Fain also promised to clean up the union.

Fain, 54, now an administrator with the international union in Detroit, had 69,459 votes, or 50.2%, while Curry had 68,976 votes, or 49.8%, according to an unofficial tally as the counting neared completion.

Earlier, Curry had asked court-appointed monitor Neil Barofsky to hold another runoff election because of the alleged irregularities, but Barofsky denied the request.

Fain’s UAW Members United slate now holds seven of 14 seats on the board, with one independent member siding with his slate. The Curry Solidarity Team slate has six board members. Four of five top officers are from Fain’s slate, including the secretary-treasurer and two of three vice presidents.

The new leadership will have to move quickly to gear up for what are expected to be contentious contract talks coming up this summer with Detroit’s three automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.

Many in the industry expect strikes against the companies by the 372,000-member union.

Fain will have little time to prepare for the union’s bargaining convention, which is scheduled to start Monday in Detroit. Delegates to the convention decide what the union will want in upcoming contract talks.

In the past, contracts with the Detroit Three set the standard for manufacturing wages nationwide. Curry’s statement said he wants to return to the union setting the wage and benefit standard for other sectors of the economy.

Fain and his slate will have to deal with member demands to restore concessions made when the automakers were headed into financial trouble starting in 2007. Many want cost-of-living pay raises, general raises, defined-benefit pensions for all workers, and eliminating tiers of workers so they all get the same pay and benefits.

Automakers prefer annual profit-sharing checks instead of raises so they pay workers when times are good and can cut expenses during economic downturns.

In a February draft of a transition plan, Fain wrote about a big shakeup coming in his first 30 days in office. Jobs will change, and new things will be expected of workers, some of whom will leave, it said.

“Everything we do, at every stage, must be reinforcing the message: there is a new sheriff in town,” Fain’s memo said.

The memo talks about a campaign to prepare workers for strikes.

Mike Booth, one of the new vice presidents, said the automakers are starting to argue that they are financially strapped because they have to fund the development of new electric vehicles. “You can’t develop an electric vehicle product on the backs of UAW members,” he said.

Strikes are possible as the union pushes to organize joint-venture battery plants being built by the companies, and to reverse a Stellantis decision to begin closing a plant in Belvidere, Illinois. Under Curry’s leadership for nearly the past two years, the UAW has taken a more aggressive stance in labor talks, having gone on strike against Volvo Trucks, John Deere, the University of California and CNHI, a maker of agricultural and construction equipment.

When asked about new UAW leadership on Friday, Ford CEO Jim Farley said his company gets along with the union. “Whomever is leading the UAW, we’ll have a great relationship with, and we’ll work hard to improve our industry … We’ll welcome whoever leads UAW,” he said.

Curry, who was not part of the scandal, was elected to the UAW’s top post by the executive board in June 2021.

The leadership change came after union members decided to directly vote on leaders for the first time in the union’s 87-year history. Under the old system, leaders were picked by delegates to a convention who were selected by local union offices. The new slate of officers was picked by the current leadership, and rarely was there serious opposition.

The direct voting came after 11 union officials and a late official’s spouse pleaded guilty in the corruption probe, including the two former presidents who were sentenced to prison. The first criminal charges in the probe were filed in 2017.

To avoid a federal takeover, the union agreed to reforms and Barofsky’s appointment to oversee the UAW and elections of the executive board.

____

Associated Press writers Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, and David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.

United States News

File - Apple CEO Tim Cook discusses the Apple Watch at the Apple event at the Bill Graham Civic Aud...

Associated Press

Apple is expected to unveil sleek headset aimed at thrusting the masses into alternate realities

Apple appears poised to unveil a long-rumored headset that will place its users between the virtual and real world, while also testing the technology trendsetter’s ability to popularize new-fangled devices after others failed to capture the public’s imagination. After years of speculation, the stage is set for the widely anticipated announcement to be made Monday […]

4 hours ago

FILE - A person, reflected in glass, walks near the Tropicana Las Vegas on May 16, 2023, in Las Veg...

Associated Press

Las Vegas ballpark pitch revives debate over public funding for sports stadiums

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Gov. Joe Lombardo wants to help build Major League Baseball’s smallest ballpark, arguing that the worst team in baseball can boost Las Vegas, a city striving to call itself a sports mecca. Debate about public funding for private sports clubs has been revived with the Oakland Athletics ballpark proposal. The […]

1 day ago

FILE - Coretta Scott King, widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., speaks at an ...

Associated Press

Carter and the Kings: A friendship and alliance — but after MLK’s assassination

ATLANTA (AP) — The voice of Martin Luther King Sr., a melodic tenor like his slain son, carried across Madison Square Garden, calming the raucous Democrats who had nominated his friend and fellow Georgian for the presidency. “Surely, the Lord sent Jimmy Carter to come on out and bring America back where she belongs,” the […]

1 day ago

Last seasons plant stalks are seen at Seth Jacobs' marijuana planting field at his Slack Hollow far...

Associated Press

Slow start to New York’s legal pot market leaves farmers holding the bag

ARGYLE, N.Y. (AP) — Seth Jacobs has about 100 bins packed with marijuana flower sitting in storage at his upstate New York farm. And that’s a problem. There aren’t enough places to sell it. The 700 pounds (318 kilograms) of pungent flower was harvested last year as part of New York’s first crop of legally […]

1 day ago

FILE - Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions con...

Associated Press

Wisconsin Republicans look for rebound, Democrats stay on offensive as 2024 fights loom

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin once again be a battleground. Democrats, recognizing that four of the past six presidential elections in the state have been decided by less than a percentage point, are trying not to become overconfident in the face of recent gains. They are gathering for their annual state convention starting June 10 […]

1 day ago

Associated Press

Michigan wildfire prompts evacuations, threatens multiple buildings

GRAYLING TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A wildfire in Michigan burned more than 1,000 acres (1.5 square miles) and prompted emergency evacuations and road closures Saturday, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The wildfire located within Grayling Township, about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Grayling, is moving west and southwest and threatens multiple […]

1 day ago

Sponsored Articles

...

DAY & NIGHT AIR CONDITIONING, HEATING AND PLUMBING

Here are the biggest tips to keep your AC bill low this summer

PHOENIX — In Arizona during the summer, having a working air conditioning unit is not just a pleasure, but a necessity. No one wants to walk from their sweltering car just to continue to be hot in their home. As the triple digits hit around the Valley and are here to stay, your AC bill […]

...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

5 mental health myths you didn’t know were made up

Helping individuals understand mental health diagnoses like obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder or generalized anxiety disorder isn’t always an easy undertaking. After all, our society tends to spread misconceptions about mental health like wildfire. This is why being mindful about how we talk about mental health is so important. We can either perpetuate misinformation about already […]

...

Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Company looking for oldest air conditioner and wants to reward homeowner with new one

Does your air conditioner make weird noises or a burning smell when it starts? If so, you may be due for an AC unit replacement.

Challenger wins close race to lead United Auto Workers union