Boeing Machinists re-elect current leadership

A dissident group of Boeing machinists has failed by a wide margin in its bid to unseat the union's incumbent leadership.

In a series of four primary-like elections that ended Wednesday, 30-year Auburn machine-parts inspector Ronnie Behnke led a group called the Unity Coalition in a challenge to the slate led by current International Association of Machinists (IAM) district president Tom Wroblewski.

Of the 31 candidates for the Unity Coalition, only one was elected.

In the election for local F on Wednesday, just more than 1,300 votes were cast. In that contest, Behnke received 471 votes and failed to win one of the local's nine District Council seats; Wroblewski retained his seat after getting 858 votes.

The contest was unusually contentious because supporters of the incumbents, including IAM staff, objected to the involvement in the race of Linda Lanham, a former longtime lobbyist for the union who now heads an industry-lobbying group that receives half its funding from Boeing.

IAM staffers spied upon Unity Coalition meetings and secretly photographed candidates with Lanham.

Lanham said she was merely supporting her son, Rick Humiston, one of the Unity candidates, though she said she also offered campaign advice when asked.

The only Unity Coalition candidate elected was Monika Clough. Because a candidate dropped out from the incumbent slate, and the rules required a full ticket, the incumbents had added Clough's name to their ticket so that her name appeared on both lists.

The union's newly elected District Council meets May 27. Given the results, the top positions in the union are likely to be reconfirmed without the need for a runoff election next month.

Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963