Posts tagged Margaret Mock
UAW’s Fain shares post-election message with auto workers: What he said
November 18, 2024 // The letter, posted on social media late Wednesday, started by acknowledging that "the people have spoken" in electing Trump to a second term as U.S. president. Fain said it was not the outcome the UAW advocated for — because the UAW endorsed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris — but the union members must remain true to the UAW mission of fighting for their jobs and better benefits.
Bernie Moreno, former car dealer elected to Senate, says Fain is a hack not helping workers
November 12, 2024 // Moreno did try to save jobs back in 2018 when General Motors announced it would permanently close its Lordstown Assembly plant in northeast Ohio, which built the Chevrolet Cruze sedan. As the Free Press reported in 2019, Moreno met with GM leaders, proposing to buy 150,000 to 180,000 Cruze cars to start a global ride-hailing company similar to Uber. GM CEO Mary Barra rejected the idea. GM shuttered Lordstown that spring.
Federal monitor reports pervasive culture of fear and slow reforms at UAW
July 18, 2024 // However, he highlighted that the union has not finalized certain reforms regarding funding community and political activities, has inconsistently followed policies on conference-related expenditures, and struggled with procedures to prevent hiring unqualified personnel and combat perceptions of nepotism and favoritism. These concerns are central to the monitor’s investigation into Fain’s actions, with Vice President Rich Boyer alleging that Fain sought benefits for his fiancée and her sister. Barofsky concluded that although the union has made commendable reforms, “there is still more work to do to fortify these areas.”
UAW President Faces Allegations of Demanding Benefits for Domestic Partner
July 10, 2024 // The filing states that Barofsky is investigating whether Fain’s decision in May to remove UAW Vice President Rich Boyer from his role as the union’s top negotiator with Chrysler parent Stellantis was in retaliation for Boyer’s alleged “refusal to accede to demands” to take actions that “would have benefitted [the president’s] domestic partner and her sister.” Those actions would have amounted to “financial misconduct” Boyer later claimed, according to a separate document Barofsky’s office filed Monday. The 55-year-old Fain is currently engaged, according to the UAW website.
As UAW ‘is being watched with a microscope,’ new investigation puts Fain in crosshairs
July 1, 2024 // The Free Press has made numerous requests — none granted — over the years, including following the release of the latest status report, to interview the monitor, Neil Barofsky, a former assistant U.S. attorney and current partner in the Chicago law firm Jenner & Block. The consent decree stemming from the union's corruption scandal sets in place a six-year term of oversight by the monitor. Barofsky’s appointment was OK’d by U.S. District Court Judge David Lawson in May 2021. The monitor’s charge is broad, with the consent decree giving him “the authority and duty to remove fraud, corruption, illegal behavior, dishonesty and unethical practices from the UAW and its constituent entities.” The oversight by the independent monitor means that internal divisions and disagreements in addition to specific actions are much more likely to be brought to light. Masters described the situation as a fishbowl.
Fain, UAW VP trade barbs in letters over Stellantis Department
June 17, 2024 // One specific issue of contention was the location of the 2024 UAW National Stellantis Council meeting, which, according to a union flyer, was scheduled for March 17-22, at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel and Casino in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Fain said that Boyer decided, despite his repeated objections, to hold the council in Puerto Rico "where we have many members but none that work for Stellantis." He said the decision has "continued to haunt us in our new organizing drives, where anti-union employers have repeatedly thrown it in our face — just as I predicted they would."
UAW shakeup leads to reassignments amid criticism of a new leader
February 29, 2024 // While Fain's letter suggested a calm transition of duties, a more explicit version of events was posted Wednesday in a statement on the website and Facebook page run by the activist group Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), which began as a dissident group backing Fain and Mock during their elections to leadership a year ago. It describes itself as "a grassroots movement of UAW members in good standing, united in the common goal of building a more democratic and fighting union." The statement said 11 of the 14 members of the UAW International Executive Board (IEB) had voted to reassign departments overseen by Mock, including departments now headed by English and Dickerson.