UAW selects new Region 2B director

Detroit — The United Auto Workers selected Wayne Blanchard as the director of the union's Region 2B, which covers Indiana and Ohio. 

Blanchard is taking over for Richard Rankin, who resigned after allegations of sexual and sex-based harassment and retaliation were made against him. He was the UAW's third executive board member to resign in less than a year amid an ongoing federal investigation into union corruption.

The UAW's elected delegates in Ohio and Indiana filled the vacancy Thursday. 

Blanchard, a Toledo native, has been assistant director of the region since June 2017. He will finish the remainder of Rankin's term, which ends in June 2022. He will also have a position on the union's international executive board.

Blanchard has been in the UAW since he was 20.  He was first elected in June 1990 as the financial secretary-treasurer of UAW Local 48 - Unitcast Division in Toledo, Ohio.

khall@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @bykaleahall