Ballots for the UAW’s runoff officer and board elections started to be mailed out on Thursday, to be accomplished by members and mailed again by February 17 to get in earlier than the February 28 deadline. At stake is precisely how a lot members need their union, which was mired in a corruption scandal for years, to vary.
Incumbent President Ray Curry — with ties to former presidents Dennis Williams and Gary Jones, each convicted within the scandal — is being challenged by Shawn Fain, who joined the UAW in 1994, and spent years as a world rep, committee particular person, and store chair.
Curry is working on a message of “experience matters,” and his marketing campaign literature doesn’t comprise many specifics past that, whereas Fain says he needs to finish the present tier system and win cost-of-living changes, amongst different priorities. Fain’s marketing campaign literature additionally pointedly notes that he supported electing UAW presidents immediately, whereas Curry didn’t. Further, Fain says that he’ll “never take kickbacks or bribes,” which you want to suppose would go unsaid, however such is the state of issues on the UAW.
At an election in November, Curry narrowly beat Fain, however since neither candidate bought a majority of the vote, or about 38 p.c of the vote every, it went to a runoff, which is the election being contested now. Both candidates logged on to a Zoom name Thursday evening for a debate, and, in accordance with the Detroit Free Press, it sounds prefer it went about in addition to may very well be anticipated:
In one notably testy trade, Curry and Fain blasted one another for his or her efforts or inaction within the face of a scandal that finally noticed two former UAW presidents — Gary Jones and Dennis Williams — despatched to jail.
”Never at one time did you stand in opposition and name out the bull—— corruption that occurred. You by no means known as it out,” stated Curry, who repeatedly asserted that Fain lacked expertise coping with important points past his present position at a coaching middle and famous that Fain had beforehand belonged to the union’s administration caucus, which Curry leads and has been blamed for squelching reform.
Fain stated he’d by no means been an insider and that Curry had been a part of the issue and never a part of the answer.
“I’m sorry that I wasn’t handpicked by the people at the top to put me in power, and I didn’t play the game,” Fain stated. “Obviously, Ray Curry got along well with Dennis Williams and Gary Jones and all of them as he was handpicked to be the secretary-treasurer for Gary Jones.”
[…]
The candidates made a wide range of pledges through the debate. Fain stated he would push for transparency, together with posting job openings throughout the union and releasing extra monetary details about the scale of the strike fund. Curry pledged to proceed combating for the membership and to proceed instituting reforms.
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Curry, you’ll bear in mind, was the man who was elected president by the UAW board in June 2021 in what positive appeared like then was a transfer made maybe to provide him a leg-up ought to a direct election for UAW president come to cross. After UAW members voted for precisely that in a referendum in late 2021, Curry was in a position to run as an incumbent president final 12 months, although the truth that he wasn’t in a position to get a majority of the vote within the November election suggests he isn’t a extremely popular one.
Now, members get to decide on, between somebody from the previous guard and somebody who aspires to be the brand new. From the skin, the selection appears apparent, and Fain says that 62 p.c of voters within the November election, “supported candidates that opposed the Curry slate,” so maybe this gained’t find yourself being all that shut ultimately. Still, if you happen to’re a UAW member, do vote. This is well crucial vote you’ve ever forged for UAW president, and never simply because it’s the primary.
Results of the election needs to be recognized by early March.
Source: jalopnik.com