Joe Biden, the current Vice President of the United States, is responsible for Uncle Sam. The guys over at United Auto Workers thought they were out of the woods and on their way to adding members to their ranks, good old Uncle Sam shows up with a bit of a nasty letter.
Perhaps UAW President Shawn Fain would have been better off waiting a little longer before endorsing Joe Biden.
Fain, and other UAW leaders have attracted the attention of federal monitors because they are not cooperating and playing nice.
According to a court filing, the watchdog appointed by the federal court with the task of eliminating corruption is investigating United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain. This is one of several investigations targeting top leaders in the union beset by scandal.
Watchdog Neil Barofsky revealed the investigation Monday, accusing union leaders for obstructing or interfering in attempts to gain access to information. These actions could be interpreted as a violation of the consent decree of 2020 that prevented a full takeover of UAW by Justice Department.
Barofsky, in a court filing in federal court, described an erosion in cooperation among union leaders after he disclosed investigations targeting members UAW’s International Executive Board. This included Fain, Secretary and Treasurer Margaret Mock, as well as one of the union’s regional directors, who was not named.
Fain and UAW leadership are at a strange time. It raises questions about the agreement that was made between the UAW and Justice Department in 2020, after the majority of the corruption cases had been settled and when the union attempted to move forward with federal oversight. The leadership would like to be able to move on from this much quicker than the Teamsters, who had Uncle Sam watching over their shoulders for almost 25 years.
The Feds are sending a warning to get it together quickly.
Barofsky wrote: “With over three months since the start of the monitor’s investigation and only a fraction of requested documents being produced, the Monitor’s assessment is the union’s delay in providing relevant documents is obstructing his investigative work and interfering, and if left undone, an apparent violation to the consent decree.”
It does not appear that there are any criminal charges. Barofsky can still bring charges to discipline UAW members and officers.
Barofsky wrote: “At this point, it’s important to stress that these allegations are only allegations.” They prove nothing by themselves. Nothing in this report should be taken to mean that there are any conclusions about potential charges for suspected misconduct.
This is a strange time for Solidarity House.
They agreed to renew auto contracts with the three big companies late last year. The new contracts include provisions that will kill automotive jobs as long as they continue pushing for electric vehicles.
Fain and top leadership sold Biden out way too early with an endorsement. They did not consider how their workers were faring after almost four years under Biden Inc., and the stumbling economy that costs the entire country to spend even more money on everything.
The UAW is also pushing to organize college students and support pro-Hamas protests on the same campuses. Maybe they should first take a back seat and ensure that the feds are satisfied before they do anything else.
UAW president Shawn Fain decided to get into the debate this week about anti-Israel protests on campus and how police should react. He wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that his union opposed “the mass arrests or intimidation” of those who exercise their right to protest or strike or speak out against injustice. That’s a good statement in a vacuum. It’s an attempt to defend the mass trespassing of Jewish students in Columbia, UCLA, and other places.
Mr. Fain made it clear where his sympathies lay. He said that Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza was wrong. He said that the UAW had “called for a truce for six months” meaning that the union wanted to stop Israel’s self-defense war not long after Hamas had mutilated and killed 1,200 Israelis.
These views might surprise Volkswagen workers in Tennessee who unionized last month or Mercedes workers from Alabama who must decide by May 17 whether they will join the UAW. The union wants to organize workers in fast-growing southern factories, and is promising higher wages. Its pitch is conspicuously lacking in solidarity with Hamas or Ivy League criminals, even though worker dues are going to support Mr. Fain’s ideological causes.
The filing by Barofsky, as I mentioned above, is a friendly warning to the leaders of the UAW to stop hiding and playing hide-and-seek with what they ask. They might not be as friendly with a Trump Attorney General than they are now under Biden.
