Federal court accuses UAW president and treasurer of obstructing investigation

A significant court document has emerged containing allegations that the United Auto Workers does not fully cooperate with a federal regulatory agency. This regulatory agency is specifically tasked with combating corruption within the union, an issue of great importance in the automotive industry.

Union supervisor Neil Barofsky claims he requested 116,000 documents from the UAW to assist his investigation, including into the actions of President Shawn Fain and Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock in connection with the alleged stripping of Mock’s authority for refusing to approve certain expenditures.

Barofsky says the union has only turned over 2,600 of those 116,000 documents; almost all of them were handed over in the past week.

Court documents say the union’s willingness to cooperate waned in February when Barofsky began investigating higher-ranking members.

“Although the union cooperated and made UAW employees and management available for interviews by the Monitor’s investigation team, it did not cooperate and failed to provide timely and complete documentation relevant to the investigation.”

UAW regulator’s court filing

None of the allegations are criminal in nature, but could indicate a violation of the settlement agreement the union reached in 2020 to prevent a comprehensive power grab by the Justice Department.