UAW President Shawn Fain is under investigation; union watchdog accuses union of not cooperating

NEW YORK — United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain is currently under investigation by a court-appointed watchdog group seeking to end corruption within the union following a shocking bribery and embezzlement scandal several years ago.

Observer Neil Barofsky announced in his ninth report to Judge David M. Lawson on Monday that he is investigating Fain and other high-ranking UAW officials. Barofsky also accused the union of a “recent failure” to cooperate with its observer duties, which he said began to crumble earlier this year after he began investigating those individuals.

The report, filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, outlines some conflicts that have arisen in recent months within the UAW’s International Executive Board – particularly between Fain and Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock.

Back in February, the report said, the board passed a motion to support Fain, stripping Mock of all outside assignments that “were not constitutionally required to be within her jurisdiction,” and making other policy changes after allegations that she had engaged in misconduct in her financial oversight duties.

Mock responded that the allegations were false and claimed the removal of her authority was in retaliation for “her refusal or unwillingness” to approve certain expenses that benefited or were requested by Fain’s presidential office, the report added. The New York Times reported that the expenses would have benefited the sister of Fain’s partner.

The Observer soon began investigating Fain, Mock and the conflicting claims. More recently, the report says, the Observer expanded the investigation to include additional allegations of Fain retaliation against one of the union’s vice presidents — and in an unrelated investigation, the Observer also began investigating a regional director after receiving allegations of possible embezzlement.

“At this point, it is important to emphasize that the allegations are merely allegations,” Barofsky said, noting that Monday’s report should not be interpreted as drawing any conclusions about possible charges.

Still, he later added, it was critical to have the resources necessary to complete his investigations – and the UAW had allegedly not fully cooperated.

When those investigations came to light, Barofsky says there was a shift in the way the UAW worked with his work. While the union made employees and officers available for interviews, it failed to provide the relevant documents in a timely manner, Barofsky claims. He claims that after months of trying, only a fraction of the requested documents were provided, most of which were provided last week.

“In the Monitor’s assessment, the Union’s delay in releasing relevant documents is hindering and disrupting its access to information necessary for its investigative work,” Barosky’s report said on Monday, later noting that court intervention may be necessary if the issue cannot be resolved in the coming weeks.

In a UAW statement sent to the Associated Press on Fain’s behalf, the president said: “As we move our union in a new direction, sometimes we have to stir up trouble. That angers some people who want to maintain the status quo. But our members expect and deserve more than business as usual.

“We encourage the Monitor to investigate all allegations brought to his office because we know what they will find: a UAW leadership that is committed to serving its members and running a democratic union,” he added.

Fain has been president of the UAW since spring 2023. Not only did he promise to take a more confrontational stance in negotiations with major automakers, but when he was elected he also promised to clean up the union.

The UAW did not issue any comments on behalf of Mock on Tuesday. According to Barofsky’s report on Monday, the secretary-treasurer “rejected the union’s current stance as uncooperative and contrary to its own directive to union staff to cooperate fully.”

Barofsky was appointed in May 2021 as part of a settlement that prevented a government takeover of the union amid a sprawling bribery and embezzlement scandal. Eleven union officials and the wife of a deceased official pleaded guilty as part of the corruption investigation, including the two former presidents who were sentenced to prison. The first charges in the investigation were filed in 2017.

This is not the first time the union has been accused of a lack of cooperation with its court-appointed oversight body. In Barofsky’s third report in July 2022, he accused the union of withholding information about previous allegations of misconduct.