A court-appointed monitor monitoring the activities of the United Automobile Workers union is investigating disputes between the union’s president, Shawn Fain, and two UAW officials who claim they were unfairly relieved of their duties.
The observer, Neil M. Barofsky, also accused the union on Monday of a “failure to cooperate” with the investigation, saying it took months to turn over relevant documents and then provided only a small fraction of the documents requested.
The union declined to comment.
The allegations in question were contained in a report filed in federal court in Michigan about Mr. Barofsky’s tenure as an observer, which began in 2021 as part of a consent decree after Justice Department investigations led to the conviction of several union officials, including two former presidents, on corruption charges.
That process also led to the union electing a president for the first time by a vote of the entire membership – a vote that put Mr. Fain, who ran as an insurgent candidate, in a runoff election last year.
One matter currently under investigation stems from a dispute over the role of the union’s secretary-treasurer, Margaret Mock, according to the documents. In February, the union’s international board voted to support Mr. Fain’s push to relieve Ms. Mock of duties not provided for in the union’s constitution, alleging she had “engaged in misconduct in the exercise of her financial oversight duties,” it said Newspaper report.
Ms. Mock denied the allegations and claimed that the move was “wrongfully initiated in retaliation for her refusal or reluctance to authorize certain expenditures for the Office of the President,” the report said.
Additionally, the report said Mr. Barofsky’s staff is investigating allegations by a vice president who was stripped of oversight of the union’s Stellantis division last month. According to the report, the union said the action was taken against Vice President Rich Boyer for “dereliction of duty,” but the official claimed he was the victim of retaliation for “refusing to engage in financial conduct.” Wrongdoing for the benefit of others.”
The union made officials and members available for questioning by investigators, the Observer’s report said, but effectively slowed “the Observer’s access to requested documents,” affecting about 116,000. About 2,600 documents have been handed over, the report said, mostly in the last few days.
The observer’s report did not call for action by the court, leaving the investigation’s next steps unclear.
While the union’s burden of corruption was still felt in the last election, it was a different issue – a promise to take a tougher stance in contract negotiations with Detroit automakers and to move away from the “corporate union” – that propelled Mr. Fain to the presidency.
During negotiations last fall, he made good on that promise, gradually ratcheting up the pressure in six-week strikes at select Ford, General Motors and Stellantis plants to achieve some of the union’s biggest gains in decades.
During these efforts, there were signs of tension among Ms. Mock, who expressed concern to her fellow board members about the cost of the walkouts to the union budget. She proposed cutting organizing spending during the strikes, but the board rejected the proposal at a special meeting, The New York Times reported, citing two people familiar with the meeting.
Ms. Mock and Mr. Boyer could not be reached for comment on Monday for this article.
According to a union biography, Ms. Mock became active in UAW affairs after she was hired at a Chrysler plant in 1994. The biography describes her as an “experienced financial officer and passionate protector of the interests of UAW members.”
Mr. Boyer joined the union in 1985 at a Chrysler plant and held union roles for nearly three decades, according to the union website.
Mr. Fain, an electrician and grandson of a UAW member, joined the union in 1994, also at a Chrysler plant. Chrysler is now part of Stellantis.
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2024-06-11 00:43:38
www.nytimes.com
