Posts tagged federal monitor
Commentary: Jacobin’s New Columnist Chris Brooks Doesn’t Disclose Corruption Charges that Led to His Ouster from UAW
February 9, 2026 // However, nowhere in Brooks’ inaugural column titled “Four Lessons From the UAW’s Turn Toward Class Struggle” is his ouster from the UAW over his illegal conduct ever mentioned. This, even though it was covered by major publications including the Detroit Free Press, Reuters, and even Brook’s hometown paper, The Chattanooga Times Free Press. Instead, Jacobin gave a platform to a corrupt union official to repair his legacy without ever having to address the very serious allegations of corruption, dishonesty, and retaliation, or the violation of federal law that forced him out of union office.
Chair Cassidy Exposes UAW Boss for Workplace Retaliation, Abusing Members’ Trust
January 19, 2026 // U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, slammed United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain for engaging in workplace retaliation to advance his personal agenda at the expense of union members. According to a court-appointed Monitor, President Fain’s office led a retaliation campaign against Secretary Treasurer Margaret Mock and Vice President Rich Boyer—officers UAW members elected in their first-ever direct election of International Executive Board (IEB) officers. As a result, the two officers lost their departmental oversight, and Mock was relieved of her two board positions. The Monitor concluded that Mock was a victim of retaliation for instituting strict policies governing expenses.
Former Chattanooga activist Chris Brooks has left his senior union post after federal monitor report
January 1, 2026 // Chris Brooks, a former Chattanooga activist and an architect of the United Auto Workers' 2024 win at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant, has left his senior union post after a federal monitor's report said he conspired to retaliate against another union leader in an internal power struggle.
UAW member wants federal monitor to investigate local president
December 20, 2025 // A member of UAW Local 6000, based in Lansing, Mich., has asked a federal court-appointed monitor to investigate the local's president, Rachael Dickinson, for alleged corruption and retaliation. An internal UAW investigation found Dickinson engaged in a pattern of discrimination toward minority women, including stripping elected leaders of their duties. The request compares Dickinson's alleged actions to those of UAW International President Shawn Fain, who is also under investigation by the monitor for retaliation.
UAW president’s chief of staff to leave the union following federal monitor report
December 19, 2025 // A key United Auto Workers strategist and architect of the union’s 2023 auto-factory strike is leaving the labor group, after a report by the federal monitor overseeing the UAW concluded that he was part of a campaign to improperly remove duties from another union leader. Chris Brooks, chief of staff to UAW President Shawn Fain, will no longer be employed by the union as of December 31, according to a report released on Thursday by the monitor’s office.
UAW monitor warns of “toxic culture” amid leadership challenges
November 18, 2025 // The UAW’s court-appointed monitor issued a stern warning Friday, Nov. 14, saying the union must take meaningful reform seriously or face the risk of corruption and abuse returning. Neil Barofsky, the monitor overseeing the union under a consent decree since 2021, cited a “toxic culture of division and retaliation at the highest levels,” singling out union President Shawn Fain and close allies. Barofsky’s report, filed in federal court, details both serious challenges and some positive steps the union has made toward reform. The monitor emphasized that failure to act could extend federal oversight beyond its scheduled end in 2027.
UAW process to oust Fain must restart, rendered invalid by monitor
September 11, 2025 // "It was a procedural error," said Dave Pillsbury, a team leader at the General Motors Flint Assembly plant, Local 598, who is behind the movement to pass the charges, along with vocal Fain dissident Brian Keller. According to Pillsbury, the UAW's consent decree, which outlines terms of oversight and punishment between the UAW and the federally appointed monitor who watches over the union, lays out guidelines for filing charges that differ from the UAW constitution.
UAW group pushing to oust Fain has to restart voting
September 8, 2025 // Among the group’s charges against Fain: financial mismanagement, workplace retaliation, including against two key international leaders, and appointing certain senior staff without adequate backgrounds in the union. Most of the locals that approved the charges represent Stellantis NV plants, which have faced layoffs since the UAW secured historic contracts with the Detroit automakers in 2023 — cuts that the anti-Fain group said should’ve never happened. But recently, the federal monitor overseeing the union after its years-long corruption scandal told the anti-Fain group that they had made a procedural error, said David Pillsbury, a worker at General Motors Co.’s Flint truck plant and one of the group’s organizers.
Ex-UAW President Ray Curry calls on Reuther Administration Caucus, criticizes current leaders
July 22, 2025 // Curry deferred questions regarding UAW leaders and the state of the union to his comments in the letter. It said "outsiders" who supported Fain's campaign are in leadership positions without having worked in a UAW facility or paid dues. "Their leadership style is based on fear, intimidation and retaliation," Curry wrote.
Exclusive-UAW investment blunder cost the union an estimated $80 million, documents show
June 24, 2025 // The board voted to liquidate about $340 million in stock investments in August 2023 to pay strike costs, according to a union document reviewed by Reuters. The wording of the vote stipulated that the money be reinvested according to union policy after the strike ended and the labor contracts were ratified, though it didn't specify how quickly. But almost none of its portfolio was invested in stocks during the year after the strike began in September 2023, according to the records reviewed by Reuters. The news agency was unable to establish why the stock investment wasn't made. The issue of why the union did not reinvest the funds for more than a year is now being investigated by the federal monitor which was appointed as part of a 2020 settlement between the UAW and the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve a union corruption scandal, according to a statement from a majority of UAW board members.