UAW Reforms May Face Top-Level Resistance The settlement with the government provides for a vote of UAW members on whether to elect top officers directly. But President Rory Gamble says direct election has long been anathema to members of the UAW’s executive board, who argue union-wide election would allow outsiders to influence union policy and internal politics. The scandal-scarred United Auto Workers is promising to turn over a new leaf, but the struggle to reform the union may just be just getting started. The UAW agrees to allow an independent monitor to oversee its finances and internal elections of officers as part of a tentative settlement of corruption charges with the U.S. Department of Justice, which a federal judge is expected to approve early next year.