Posts tagged federal monitor
Member Apathy and College Students Give Fain a Second Term as UAW President
October 21, 2026 // While the results from the election are currently waiting for certification, Fain appears to have been reelected with about 68 percent of the vote in an election with an abysmally-low turnout rate of nine percent. Notably, Fain performed strongest in regions that have a lower number of union members working in actual auto plants. Fain’s strongest areas were UAW Region 9A, which generally represents university students and lawyers in the northeast, and UAW Region 6, which generally represents students at the University of California. Fain took 76.65 percent of the vote in Region 9A and 75.23 percent of the vote in Region 6.
UAW rank-and-file vote to pick union leadership
October 8, 2026 // Fain, who became one of the labor movement's most recognizable figures after leading strikes against Ford Motor (F.N), opens new tab, General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab and Stellantis (STLAM.MI), opens new tab in 2023, faces multiple opponents. Union members are also electing three vice presidents, a secretary-treasurer and regional directors.
Opinion: The United Academic Workers of America
October 6, 2026 // Yet while union workers lose their jobs, the UAW is expanding its administrative ranks. In 2014 the UAW raised dues to pad its strike fund, though much of the money has gone to adding overhead. Mr. Boyer, who is challenging Mr. Fain for president, pledges to “cut overspending,” reduce union dues, and “end the hiring of non-UAW members at excess salaries.” He says the union has added 23 “administrative assistants” and 12 “public relations specialists” since 2020, many of whom make two to three times as much as auto workers. The election is a test of whether the UAW exists to help workers, or the interests of union bosses and the priorities of the university left.
Judge Approves Order Ending Teamsters Union’s Federal Monitor
September 5, 2026 // A federal judge approved an agreement between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Trump administration to rollback decades-old oversight of one of the nation’s largest labor groups. Judge Loretta A. Preska’s Thursday approval ends a 37-year monitorship of the Teamsters which was first established in 1989 to eliminate the influence of organized crime in the union. The judge’s sign off comes after the Teamsters and the Justice Department filed an agreement with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in June asking Preska to eliminate the union’s Independent Investigations Officer position at the end of this year and sunset the Independent Review Officer after three years.
Clashes Cloud Shawn Fain’s Re-election Bid at U.A.W.
August 31, 2026 // At a February 2024 meeting, the board voted to curtail the responsibilities of Margaret Mock, the union’s secretary-treasurer, after Mr. Fain accused her of obstructing the union’s work. Ms. Mock said Mr. Fain was retaliating against her for refusing to authorize some expenses. In May 2024, Mr. Fain removed Rich Boyer, a vice president, from oversight of relations with Stellantis, saying Mr. Boyer had made unauthorized concessions in negotiations. Mr. Boyer said Mr. Fain was retaliating against him for declining to intervene in a workers’ compensation claim by the sister of Mr. Fain’s fiancée, or to approve a cash bonus that would have benefited his fiancée. Mr. Boyer and Ms. Mock had supported Mr. Fain’s first run to lead the union. This year, Mr. Boyer is among five candidates running to replace Mr. Fain, with Ms. Mock on his slate.
Union boss at center of warring socialist factions in battle for control
August 12, 2026 // The WSWS has acknowledged Fain's links to socialism, reporting that Fain's former chief of staff, Chris Brooks, and a current union official Jonah Furman, are both Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members. Furman also previously served as the former communications director for the UAW and was brought on board as Fain's top assistant after Fain ascended to the union's presidency, according to Sage Journals. Furman previously worked for the 2020presidential campaign of socialist Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as well as the congressional campaign of Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,according to Sage Journals. Brooks left UAW leadership in 2023 after a federal monitor reported him to be involved in improperly attempting to have the duties of the UAW's secretary-treasurer removed, Reuters reported. He is now a columnist at Jacobin, a socialist magazine.
UAW ignores federal monitor’s guidance to create budget, track finances
August 3, 2026 // The monitor has also reported on a previous investment blunder that cost the union potentially millions of dollars in unrealized stock gains. Barofsky did not find evidence of misconduct by Mock in that case, but did highlight broad governance and communication failures, including in her office, that contributed to the investment mistakes. The last UAW election, in 2022, was expected to be a reset for the union as it sought to move past a recent history of corruption. But some candidates — including during a vice president debate earlier this week — argue more leadership change is needed. Some raised concerns that Barofsky may seek to extend his oversight of the union beyond the current expiration of early 2027 — oversight that has also been a financial drag on the union, costing tens of millions of dollars.
The moment tensions erupted between UAW’s Fain, federal monitor
July 8, 2026 // The expletive-laden discussion from February 2024 — details of which have never before been reported — is newly relevant after the court-appointed monitor, Neil Barofsky, released his latest blistering report about the union last month. It described how Fain, who is up for reelection this fall, had retaliated against union Vice President Rich Boyer, improperly used his authority to benefit his fiancée and her sister, and destroyed evidence including text messages.
Federal monitor says UAW head Fain abused authority; Fain denies findings
June 29, 2026 // he federally appointed watchdog overseeing the United Auto Workers union found that its president, Shawn Fain, retaliated against a top officer and improperly used his authority, including in ways that would benefit his fiancée and her sister. New York attorney Neil Barofsky, the monitor overseeing UAW activities, said in a report released on Thursday that Fain retaliated against a union official, Rich Boyer, after Boyer pushed back against some of Fain’s actions.
Sean O’Brien Re-elected Teamsters President
June 19, 2026 // O’Brien has also leaned on a weekly podcast, "Better Bad Ideas," to speak directly to members and shape the union’s message, according to Apple Podcasts. Episodes this year have mixed labor organizing talk with guests from across the political spectrum, giving the union chief an unfiltered venue to push priorities such as the Faster Labor Contracts Act and to outline strategy ahead of major contract battles.