Stakes are high in the United Auto Workers (UAW), with two polar-opposite visions of unionism up for leadership. On Monday, ballots were sent to UAW members for the union’s first direct election of top officers.

The rank-and-file vote comes about because members voted last fall to switch to that system, instead of having a far smaller number of convention delegates elect top leaders, as the UAW has done until now. The opportunity to let members decide was ordered by the US Justice Department’s monitor, installed in 2021 to oversee remedies to the union’s blatant corruption. Over the past five years, more than a dozen UAW officials have pleaded guilty and gone to jail for embezzlement and other crimes, including two presidents.

President Dennis Williams, for example, got the union to build him a $1.1-million lakeside “cabin” to ease his retirement. When FBI agents raided six locations in four states, they found “wads” of cash in President Gary Jones’s garage. Jones and his cronies had a particular fetish for cigars and golf clubs; Jones spent $13,000 of the members’ dues on cigars in just one day. Golf outings, lavish dinners, and villa rentals in Palm Springs were other treats the members paid for. One official pleaded guilty to taking $1.99 million in kickbacks from vendors for UAW swag, such as 50,000 “Team UAW-GM” jackets.