FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C., May 09, 2014 – Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) have elected the top leadership of their union by a more than a two-to-one margin. The preliminary results were announced today following a tabulation of ballots from IAM Local Lodges across the U.S. and Canada. The vote count was performed at IAM Headquarters in Upper Marlboro, MD under the direct supervision of Department of Labor representatives.
“IAM members made their collective voice heard and elected a diverse leadership team with the experience and capabilities to lead one of the greatest unions in North America,” said IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger. “Our members have spoken and we thank them for their support. They overwhelmingly rejected an effort to move this union backwards and we now turn our full attention to moving the IAM forward.”
IAM members in the United States and Canada elected the incumbent officers R. Thomas Buffenbarger for International President and Robert Roach, Jr. for General Secretary-Treasurer. In voting in the United States, IAM members elected eight incumbent General Vice Presidents including Lynn D. Tucker, Jr., Robert Martinez, Jr., Philip J. Gruber, Gary R. Allen, Sito Pantoja, Mark Blondin, Diane Babineaux and Dora Cervantes.
The preliminary results announced today are subject to final certification by the Department of Labor. Click here to view a tally of the preliminary results.
The IAM is one of the largest industrial unions in North America and one of the few where members can directly elect their top leadership. The IAM represents nearly 600,000 active and retired members in Canada, the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.
