Free-For-All as UAW Workers Vote for a New President

Free for all underway as members of the United Auto Workers vote to fill the union the union presidency for the next four years and incumbent Shawn Fain battles to hold on to the job.

The battle for the UAW presidency is growing intense, with incumbent Shawn Fain facing down five challengers. The results could have long-term impact on the Big Three Detroit automakers.

With mail-in ballots now in the hands of active union members and qualified retirees, voting is approaching an October 5 deadline to determine who will next head the United Auto Workers Union. Current President Sean Fain is determined to land another four-year term and points to the huge gains made in the latest contracts covering workers at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.

But opponents point to concerns about potential corruption and Fain’s largely unsuccessful drive to organize workers at the many foreign-owned, non-union auto plants run by companies like Toyota and Mercedes-Benz. Only workers at Volkswagen’s Tennessee plant have so far agreed to UAW representation.

Fain faces five challengers in the contentious race, with votes expected to be tabulated next week, unofficial results expected around October 9. If no candidate lands a majority, however, the battling could extend into 2027 with a run-off vote.

Former supporter tops list of Fain challengers

Fain’s challengers include a top officer, UAW Vice President Rich Boyer. Boyer was part of the UAWD reform slate led by Fain four years ago, who says the current president’s divisive management style has hindered the union’s progress in key areas such as bargaining and organizing.  Both say issues such as the ability to bargain for good contracts, pensions and the threat of artificial intelligence are key issues.

The other candidates include a disaffected UAW staffer, Tricia Geiger, who has picked up supports from retired union leaders, such as Ron Gettelfinger and Ray Curry, who Fain narrowly defeated in a run-off in 2023. Then there’s a union official from a defense industry plant in Lima, Ohio, Greg Mooney, who says the Fain’s leadership has failed to deliver genuine reform inside the union.

Two other candidates for UAW president, Brian Keller, a Stellantis worker, who garnered 14 percent of the vote in 2022, and who describes himself as the authentic voice of rank-and-file union members; and Will Lehman a worker from Mack Truck in Pennsylvania and avowed socialist, who believes in class struggle, ran in 2022 but like Keller failed to make it into the runoff.

This time around Lehman succeeded in forcing out one of Fain’s key aides. Ray Jensen. Lehman had complained to the monitor appointed to oversee the union by a federal judge in Detroit about a social media post by Jensen. It featured an AI-generated figure pointing at Lehman’s head, something Lehman claimed was in violation of union election rules barring intimidation. The monitor found the threat egregious enough he suspended Jensen from holding any official position in the UAW for two years.

Role of monitor becomes key issue

The monitor was installed in 2020 as part of a settlement of a racketeering suit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against the UAW, which was mired in a corruption scandal that led to prison sentences for fourteen union officials, including two past UAW presidents. The monitor is responsible for implementation of reforms inside the union, including elections. The actual administration, from mailing ballots to union members, to collecting and to counting votes, is handled by a contractor retained by the monitor.

Jensen’s removal from his job as an aide to Fain underscores the UAW president’s vulnerability in the upcoming race. Additionally, the crowded field means a runoff in between the top two vote getters is widely considered almost certain.

Fain has a sturdy base of support, particularly among the graduate students, lawyers, and public-sector employees who represent a third of the UAW’s active membership. The crowded field makes it likely the two top vote getters will repeat the runoff clash that led to a close victory for Fain in the 2022 election.

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Deadline approaches

UAW members and retirees have until October 5 to return their mail-in ballots in the election. The voting will also fill other key positions on the union’s executive board, including secretary treasurer, vice president, and regional director.

The question is whether there will be reasonable turnout. Only about 11 percent of eligible voters participated in the 2022 election, according to the monitor,

That led to complaints from Lehman and some of the other losers that the tallies for key union offices hardly represented member sentiment. Participation is also smaller than in comparable elections for top officers in the Teamsters and United Steel Workers

Intense campaign highlights race for key offices

The intensity of the contest to reach union members was on display in a forum organized by the monitor on YouTube. All five challengers aimed sharp criticism at Fain. They accused him of adopting a divisive management style that has undermined the union’s organizing efforts, divided the union’s executive board, and created a culture inside the union rife with threats and infighting that made it difficult for the UAW’s staff to serve membership.

Boyer made a point of emphasizing the reports of the court-appointed monitor, Neil Barofsky, which describes Fain’s abuse of authority, were factual. The monitor’s  report, which took several months to compete and resulted in the ouster of Fain’s chief of staff, found the UAW President pressured another high-ranking union official in an effort to secure more pay for a favored colleague and a workers’ compensation claim for her sister. “The UAW is about dignity, fairness and respect,” said Boyer.

Fain defends record

Fain said in a Facebook livestream he is now facing an investigation by a federal grand jury in Detroit and described the monitor’s report as retaliation for a UAW pronouncement in December 2023 calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. According to Fain, Barofsky has long-standing ties to Jewish organizations and the Israeli government and had no right to interfere with decisions by the union’s executive board.

“We’ve accomplished more in the last three years and three months than in previous decades,” said Fain. “This is what happens when you go against corporate power.”

During his tenure, Fain added, he has led the union to record contracts with Detroit three automakers, an organizing victory at Volkswagen, and brought in new ideas to effectively challenge the billionaire class. Additionally, UAW members working at Detroit’s three automakers will be making more than $40,00 per hour thanks to a 3 percent raise and cost of living adjustment due in September.

Damaged reputation

Geiger, however, said Fain has damaged UAW’s reputation and hobbled the union’s efforts to recruit new members, which is critical to the union’s future. Fain’s claims that he recruited 100,000 new members are false and the actual number is more like 9,000, according to Geiger, adding the UAW has been hurt by the aura of scandal around Fain.

“Clean governance and organizing success are not two priorities. They are the same one,” said Geiger, who is now backed by the old Reuther caucus, which governed the UAW for decades prior to Fain’s election in 2023.

According to Greg Mooney, “Leadership requires integrity. It requires the courage to stop wrongdoing, not participate in it. We have seen too much of this from the current establishment.

Keller and Lehman maintained that Fain had failed to listen to the membership, and must be made more accountable, while addressing issues such as wages and AI.