UAW Delays Certifying Vote for Region 5 Director

Owen Bieber, president of the United Auto Workers, on Thursday delayed certifying the results of a hotly contested election for one of the union’s 16 regional director positions after the losing candidate filed a protest challenging whether five of the delegates who voted for his opponent were eligible to vote.

The challenge was filed by Jerry Tucker, who lost the race for director of Region 5, the union’s largest, by one-tenth of a vote to incumbent regional director Ken Worley on Wednesday.

Tucker’s candidacy had been backed by a number of disenchanted local officers from Region 5, which covers eight states stretching from Colorado to Louisiana. Worley has been the regional director for 19 years and was supported by all of the union’s top officials.

Bieber told the 2,500 delegates to the union’s constitutional convention Thursday morning that he had made a preliminary investigation of Tucker’s charges and had determined that the five delegates in question had been eligible to vote.

Then, Raymond Majerus, the union’s secretary-treasurer, conducted a voice vote on certifying the results of all the UAW elections held Wednesday.

This vote included the Worley-Tucker race, which was the only one in which there had been a contest.

There was a clear “no” voice vote on certifying all the results, prompting cheers from delegates supporting Tucker, some of whom held up signs that proclaimed, “Stop the Scandal in Region 5.”

Majerus, who actively supported Worley’s reelection, then attempted to hold another vote, saying that not enough people had voted the first time and speculating that some people had not understood what they were voting on. This precipitated loud shouts of objection from a number of delegates.

At this point, Bieber intervened, saying: “It’s very obvious the convention is not going to accept the report of Region 5.” He then called for a motion to certify all of the results with the exception of Region 5. The motion passed easily on a hand vote.

Bieber then instructed the union’s credentials committee to conduct a further investigation into Tucker’s charges.

It was not clear how long their review would take, but union officials said they thought there would be an attempt to complete the process by the close of the convention today.