UAW member Shawn Fain attacked by federal supervisor – blamed for his call for ceasefire – People’s World

DETROIT – The federal government is investigating United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain and his family. Many union members believe the investigation is part of an attempt at retaliation against the union for supporting its members’ call for a ceasefire in Palestine.

New reports based on internal documents show that Neil Barofsky, the UAW’s federally appointed monitor, launched a series of increasingly intensified efforts in the months following the union’s Dec. 1, 2023 ceasefire declaration to get the union to reconsider or weaken its opposition to the genocide in Gaza.

At the time, the UAW was the largest union in the United States and one of the first to openly oppose the war in Gaza. Since then, more and more unions have raised the deafening roar for a ceasefire.

The AFL-CIO issued an official statement in February calling for an end to the Gaza war. Shortly thereafter, a new coalition called the National Labor Network for Ceasefire emerged, representing nine million workers from seven major unions and 220 local unions and union councils. Last week, the National Labor Network for Ceasefire met with Palestinian union leaders to show solidarity with the people of occupied Palestine.

Fain himself has stressed the importance of international solidarity between the UAW and the people of Gaza in public appearances, including testimony before Congress. “From the fight against fascism in World War II to the mobilization against apartheid in South Africa and the CONTRA war, the UAW has always fought for justice around the world,” the union’s statement said.

This vocal opposition to Israel’s brutal war on Gaza did not go unnoticed by Barofsky, who was appointed by the Biden administration in 2021. As part of the UAW’s legal settlement with the federal government to clean up past corruption in the union, Barofsky was appointed an independent monitor. The same 2021 settlement also established the direct rank-and-file election procedures that led to Fain’s election as UAW chairman in March 2023.

Fain has since led the highly successful “Stand Up” strike against the Big Three automakers in the fall of 2023 and is currently leading a growing campaign to unionize auto manufacturing plants across the Southern United States.

New reporting from News about Drop Site cites sources familiar with the matter as saying that after the UAW announced the ceasefire, Barofsky contacted Fain directly. He urged Fain to reconsider the union’s position, claiming there were concerns about “anti-Semitism.” In a move many found highly inappropriate, Barofsky claimed he expressed this opinion for personal reasons and not in his capacity as a Justice Department-appointed federal inspector general with nearly unfettered insight into the UAW’s inner workings.

Fain rejected the charge of anti-Semitism and called the UAW’s ceasefire statement exactly what it claims to be: a call for peace. Fain also expressed serious concerns about Barofsky’s ability to separate his personal views from his role as a federal observer. The next day, Fain appeared at a press conference on Capitol Hill alongside members of Congress and called for a ceasefire.

Barofsky further escalated the conflict by writing a letter to the UAW board in February 2024 citing the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) concerns about anti-Semitism at UAW ceasefire demonstrations. This led to a direct confrontation between Barofsky and the UAW board at a meeting held later that month.

The UAW board called Barofsky’s comments an inappropriate and unethical abuse of his power as a federal inspector general and an attempt to influence the union’s public statements. Barofsky maintained that the UAW’s stance on the war in Gaza amounted to “anti-Semitism,” again citing the ADL.

Within days, Barofsky retaliated by using his power as a federal regulator to demand that the UAW release all communications between Fain, his top advisers, and UAW lawyers that took place before the UAW board meeting at which Barofsky was reprimanded.

Barofsky has since found allies among Republicans in the House of Representatives, who held hearings this week on alleged “rampant anti-Semitism” in American unions. And a report citing Barofsky and published in the Wall Street Journal This week, a highly misleading claim was made that Fain had requested benefits for his family members as part of the UAW negotiations.

Several of Fain’s close family members are UAW members and work in the auto industry, so they would benefit equally from collective bargaining alongside thousands of other UAW-organized workers.

Fain is reportedly currently under federal investigation into “corruption allegations.” The investigation appears to be a direct retaliation against Fain and the UAW for playing a leading role in the labor movement’s loud and increasingly vocal calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The union’s ceasefire stance is politically inconvenient for the Biden administration, which prides itself on its strong support for unions but has provided extensive military and political support to the Israeli state in its genocide against the Palestinian people.

The Justice Department’s attempt to defame Fain and the UAW may be an indication that the labor movement is increasingly influencing the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

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