UAW votes for direct election of leaders in wake of scandal

DETROIT (AP) — Members of the United Auto Workers union have overwhelmingly approved picking their leaders by direct ballot elections, rejecting a system that many blamed for a bribery and embezzlement scandal in the union's top ranks.

The “one member, one vote” measure got about 64% of 140,586 valid ballots that were received by Monday’s mail-in deadline.

Only about 36% favored the current system of leadership picked by delegates to a convention, according to results released Thursday.

The results are not official until approved by the Labor Department and a federal judge.

A court-appointed monitor will develop rules and oversee the election of the union's 13-member International Executive Board, which includes the president, vice president, secretary-treasurer and regional directors. All current board members including President Ray Curry are expected to run.

The monitor, Neil Barofsky, said Thursday in a statement that the election is likely to take place in the summer or fall of next year.

The change is a dramatic one for the 86-year-old union with 397,000 members nationwide. In the past, union leaders were 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 has there been any serious opposition.

Direct elections received 89,615 votes, while 50,971 wanted delegate voting. Over 1 million active members and retirees were eligible to vote.

Barofsky was appointed by a federal judge earlier this year as part of a settlement that avoided a government takeover of the union after a wide-ranging bribery and embezzlement scandal. The vote on direct election of leaders also was part of the settlement.

Peggy Jones, a worker at General Motors’ truck assembly...