Ian Kullgren writes for Bloomberg Law:
When the United Auto Workers convention in Detroit starts next week, the two most recent elected presidents won’t be there.
They’ll remain in federal prison.
And for the first time, the union will select its next leader through a popular vote—a key reform approved by the membership earlier this year, at the behest of a federally appointed monitor, to ward off the kind of corruption that enveloped one of the nation’s oldest labor groups in recent years.
Yet UAW reformers already are crying foul over a decision from the top brass to bar retirees from running, disqualifying at least one candidate seeking to challenge incumbent President Ray Curry. The would-be candidate, James Coakley, has been waging an increasingly fraught battle in federal court to overturn the decision by Curry and the International Executive Board before the convention begins July 25 in Detroit.
Coakley and others say it’s a blatant conflict of interest for Curry—appointed last year to fill the vacancy left by former UAW President Rory Gamble—to block another member from running against him. While the court battle hasn’t proved fruitful, it lays the groundwork for a likely fight at the convention with the help of Unite All Workers for Democracy, an internal UAW reform group.
The article quotes UAWD’s own Scott Houldieson:
“Retirees offer a lot to this union, and they should be able to run for International Executive Board,” said Scott Houldieson, chair of UAWD.
Read more in Bloomberg Law, and read about UAWD’s proposed Convention resolution on retiree eligibility.