Published
July 10, 2024
As the Chamber recently wrote, United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain is under investigation for allegedly retaliating against UAW officials. Media reports now indicate that one of the instances of retaliation related to a demand by Fain to provide benefits to his domestic partner and her sister. The UAW official who refused the demand stated that doing so would have resulted in “financial misconduct.” The official was subsequently relieved of his duties.
As part of the investigation, a monitor appointed by the U.S. government to oversee the UAW requested documents from the union. Rather than comply with these requests as required under a consent decree, the union has insisted on privilege and confidentiality, which has frustrated the Monitor’s work. The consent decree came out of an earlier government investigation into a massive UAW corruption scandal in 2020.
In response to the UAW’s stonewalling, in early July the Monitor filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to compel the UAW’s compliance with document requests. Notably, the motion states that in addition to investigating Fain for retaliation, the monitor is also investigating a UAW Regional Director for embezzlement. The Regional Director allegedly used union credit cards for personal purchases and misappropriated UAW property.
It’s not surprising that the UAW wouldn’t be eager to assist in investigations of potential scandals. But it is surprising that union leadership thinks they can keep the monitor at bay. As the monitor noted in his motion, under the consent decree, “the monitor stands in the shoes of the UAW itself when conducting the Union’s disciplinary process, and thus may access Union documents when carrying out his duties, including privileged and confidential documents as if acting as the union itself.”
The monitor has noted that, at this point, the claims of retaliation and fraud are still allegations. If the UAW is forced to produce the requested documents, it will be interesting to see how long that remains the case.
About the authors
Glenn Spencer
Spencer oversees the Chamber’s work on immigration, retirement security, traditional labor relations, human trafficking, wage hour and worker safety issues, EEOC matters, and state labor and employment law.
