Jane Slaughter writes for In These Times:
United Auto Workers (UAW) reformers seem set to make a historic change in the top leadership of their union, ending 70 years of one-party top-down rule. As mail-ballot votes were counted this week, it appeared very possible that the reform-oriented UAW Members United slate will eventually take all seven of the seats it contested of 14 on the union’s executive board. This is nothing short of an earthquake in one of the country’s largest manufacturing unions; the last time anyone was elected to the executive board in opposition to the ruling Administration Caucus (AC) was 34 years ago, when Jerry Tucker of the New Directions Movement became a regional director.
The Members United slate was created by the reform movement Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), which formed in 2019 to fight for members’ right to vote on their top officers. Last year, UAW members voted to switch to a one-member, one-vote system, a result of the U.S. Justice Department’s monitorship that was installed to address the union’s egregious corruption.