A slate of reform candidates vying for the national leadership of 577,000-member International Association of Machinists (IAM) has cleared a second electoral hurdle. Because the slate headed by Connecticut railroad mechanic Jay Cronk received the required endorsement of at least 25 local lodges at special endorsement meetings held Feb. 8, it will face off against a slate of incumbents led by international president R. Thomas Buffenbarger on nationwide ballots.
Both sets of candidates will appear on the ballots that members will receive at the first regularly scheduled meeting in April of each local lodge in the United States.
Cronk’s slate includes two Boeing workers: Gresham plant worker Pat Maloney of Lodge 63, and union business representative Jason Redrup of District 751 in the Puget Sound.
The contest is a do-over, conducted under the terms of a voluntary compliance agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor. DOL investigated complaints filed after national IAM officer elections in January 2013, and concluded that the election rules outlined in the IAM constitution violate a federal law governing union elections.
