House Republicans Walberg and Allen Demand UAW Explain How It Ran the John Deere Contract Vote
The House Education and Workforce chairmen cite reports of hard-to-reach voting hours and locations and unannounced results. They want records by Nov. 13.
Two House Republicans are asking the United Auto Workers to show how it handled a vote on a John Deere contract extension, the Daily Signal reports in a first-look story.
The letter. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee, and Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga., who chairs its Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions subcommittee, wrote to UAW President Shawn Fain on Friday. They want to know whether the Aug. 23 vote met standards of "transparency and accountability."
The complaint. The committee says it received multiple reports that workers struggled to vote because of difficult hours and locations, and that union leaders did not tell members the results. John Deere had proposed extending the current agreement, which expires in October 2027, through 2029. The union announced on Aug. 23 that members rejected it.
The request. The lawmakers ask for records on how the vote was run, how ballots were counted and how results were announced, including vote totals and communications about decisions that did not disclose results. They set a Nov. 13 deadline and say the answers will help Congress decide whether the National Labor Relations Act and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act need amendments.
What they say it is not. The letter states that the inquiry is not about whether members should have accepted John Deere's offer. "Union members deserve to have their voices heard and should have confidence that their votes are accurately counted and reported," Walberg told the Daily Signal.
Note for readers: the reports of voting problems come from the committee, and the Signal's story does not include a UAW response. The letter is a request, not a finding.