Dissidents Challenge Longtime IAM Machinists Union Leadership "He said he would sell the union's Learjet, which he called an extravagance."

Dissidents Challenge Longtime IAM Machinists Union Leadership "He said he would sell the union's Learjet, which he called an extravagance."
Labor Chief Faces Opponent Pledging to Cut Spending and Open Up Elections
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230372210457924220010...

By KRIS MAHER And JON OSTROWER CONNECT
Dec. 6, 2013 2:36 p.m. ET
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, one of the nation's largest unions, could face the first challenge to its leadership in more than five decades after the U.S. Labor Department found the union violated federal labor law during an election earlier this year.

For years, rank-and-file members have complained that union rules stymie opportunities to nominate candidates to top leadership positions. No candidate opposing incumbent leaders and their allies has won enough endorsements to get on the ballot since 1961.

Now, after the Labor Department found some of the union's locals violated law by making it difficult for members to vote, dissident hopefuls are stepping up to run in a new election that the federal agency will oversee early next year.

"The IAM routinely promotes themselves as the most democratic union in the world," said Jay Cronk, who is running against longtime president Thomas Buffenbarger. "They omit the part where it's been over 50 years since anyone actually got to vote."

A recent contract fight is also fueling the unrest. Last month, 32,000 members in Seattle voted down a contract offer from Boeing Co. BA +1.85% , dealing a blow to labor leaders who appeared to back the proposal and leading the aerospace company to open its bidding, including a new and potentially nonunion site to build its multibillion-dollar 777X jetliner project.

Mr. Cronk, 58 years old, said that if elected, he would cut union spending and make it easier for rank-and-file members to seek office. He said he would sell the union's Learjet, which he called an extravagance. Jet-related expenses, including pilot salaries, totaled more than $1 million in 2012, according to government filings. A union spokesman said Mr. Buffenbarger wasn't available to comment.

Union leaders fired Mr. Cronk in November from his post as a staff representative at the union's Maryland headquarters a week after he announced he would seek office. He said he would return to his job as a mechanic for Metro-North Railroad in Connecticut, after being a full-time union staff member for 21 years, while he campaigns.

Rick Sloan, a spokesman for the 580,000-member Machinists, defended the firing of Mr. Cronk, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that protects a union's right to discharge appointed staff not loyal to union leadership. He dismissed criticism of the union's spending and other practices.

"On each one of these things, they're allowed to say any damn fool thing they want," Mr. Sloan said. "The issues they raised for the most part were policies that were voted on in convention after convention after convention."

Mr. Sloan also defended the union's nominating process, which requires candidates to receive endorsements from at least 25 of the union's roughly 900 local lodges to gain a spot on the ballot for the top 10 positions in the U.S. Mr. Buffenbarger was first elected president in 1997.

In January, Karen Asuncion, a Machinists member who works as a baggage handler at Ronald Reagan National Airport, ran for general vice president and won three endorsements, more than any other non-incumbent candidate. Ms. Asuncion alleged in a complaint with the Labor Department that some locals provided little or no notice of nomination meetings, among other allegations, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The Labor Department, finding that some of the union's locals failed to provide adequate notice of such meetings, also found members were denied a reasonable opportunity to attend meetings to nominate and vote to endorse candidates, according to a summary of an August agreement it reached with the union. A spokesman declined to comment further.

Mr. Sloan didn't dispute the Labor Department's findings and said any dissatisfaction with union leadership or the Boeing contract offer was "part of the democratic process of this union."

The agency will supervise nominations and endorsement votes early next year. If any candidates win 25 endorsements, an election will be held in April.

Holding new elections for top officers is rare. The Labor Department oversees 26,000 unions. It investigated 122 officer elections this year and supervised a re-run election in 26 cases. The Machinists election was the only one for top officers.

Write to Kris Maher at kris.maher@wsj.com and Jon Ostrower at jon.ostrower@wsj.com