UAW swears in Browning, Vicente as presidential race remains unclear

All of the members of the United Auto Workers’ 14-person International Executive Board now are in place except for the Detroit-based union’s president, with that race too close to call.

The UAW on Tuesday swore in Chuck Browning to his second term as vice president and Daniel Vicente as director of Region 9, which covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania and western and central New York. Browning’s reelection gives the long-in-control Administrative Caucus six people on the board, while Vicente’s win means seven members are outside challengers. Most of the challengers come from the Unite All Workers for Democracy Caucus that was formed after revelations of years-long corruption scandals among several now-former union leaders.

For the presidency, just 505 votes separate leading candidate Shawn Fain, an international administrative representative in the union’s Stellantis Department, and incumbent Ray Curry. About 600 challenged ballots remain to be counted, and the UAW and court-appointed monitor are working to determine whether the members who cast those votes are in good standing and eligible to vote. But the Curry Solidarity Team already is calling on the monitor to investigate how the election was conducted and from where Fain and his slate received donations.

There is less than a week before the UAW’s bargaining convention that kicks off Monday in Detroit. The convention will help the union determine what its priorities are when it approaches the bargaining table with the three Detroit automakers this summer. Contract talks are especially critical as the automakers call for cost cuts amid a historic transformation to electric vehicles, make investments to support that new production and negotiate concurrently with the UAW’s Canadian counterpart, Unifor.

The election vendors on Tuesday were expected to scan and log uncounted ballots returned to Dayton, Ohio, from Detroit, according to an update on the website of the union’s federal monitor, New York attorney Neil Barofsky. Following that process, the monitor will provide an update on the status of unresolved, challenged ballots. He expects then the count will resume.

Even once the unofficial results of that vote have been logged, though, the monitor will have to resolve any protests. The Curry camp already has filed one protest alleging flaws in the administration of the election, requesting a deferral of the announcement of the results, an investigation and potentially a rescheduling of the runoff election. The monitor denied that request, though Curry’s team has suggested it will continue with its protest to the monitor and potentially even request federal intervention.

With the results so far suggesting a likely Fain victory, details of what his administration’s approach would be are coming into focus with strategy plans suggesting shakeups in union department and staffing, and rapid activation of training for bargaining and picket lines in case of a strike.