A Monitor appointed by a Federal District Court has issued a new Report on the United Auto Workers Union, finding “the Union does not appear to be on the path to sustainable cultural reform.”
Because of years of documented UAW corruption, the federal government appointed a monitor to oversee the union’s activities. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the federal monitor has concluded that the UAW still refuses to change its ways and remains “toxic.”
The Report found that although the union has made some changes to union governance, it has not fostered a culture of compliance with U.S. labor laws.
From the Report:
“Even the most robust structural reforms cannot be successfully implemented amidst a culture of division and retaliation.”
The Monitor’s 100-page report, the 13th of its kind, comes four and a half years into its oversight of the UAW.
The Monitor was appointed as part of a consent decree by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan following widespread illegality within the union that sent two former UAW presidents to federal prison for stealing union funds and taking bribes.
The Monitor found that at least one of the structural changes made—the creation of a Compliance Department—became a tool for UAW President Shawn Fain in his retaliation against Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock.
From the latest Report:
“The Union spent a great deal of time and resources building a Compliance Department that could learn to guide the Union without the need for external oversight. But instead of leading the Union forward, the Compliance Department became a tool for the President’s Office in its campaign of retaliation against the Secretary-Treasurer.
“The President’s Office cast aside the Compliance Department’s independence and used it as a Trojan horse to advance false accusations against the Secretary-Treasurer in order to limit her authority to serve as a check on the spending of Union funds.”
The Monitor—lawyer Neil Barofsky—found the UAW’s organizational culture remains toxic nearly five years after monitoring began.
“As recent events at the Union demonstrate, a toxic culture of division and retaliation at the highest levels of the organization is preventing the Union from successfully implementing even the most carefully constructed reforms.”
The Monitor wrote that a survey conducted by the union itself validates the finding of a toxic culture, finding that more than half of union personnel said they would not report wrongdoing for fear of retaliation by top union officials.
“The data from that survey indicates that the respondents are not seeing improvement in the Union’s culture. For example, and of particular concern, when asked why they would not report misconduct if they saw it, approximately 51% of respondents said they would decline to report misconduct out of fear of retaliation, similar to the 49% that was reported in the 2023 Culture Assessment.”
The Monitor previously found that union president Shawn Fain “acted on a premeditated plan to take action against Mock–one that aligned with Fain’s earlier, widely reported warning that he would ‘slit the (expletive) throats’ of anyone who interfered with his staff.”
The Report also noted that other compliance reforms—including implementation of a formal budget process—have stalled due to the organization’s culture.
“(S)ince the Monitor’s Tenth Status Report, other compliance reforms have also stalled out because of the Union’s divisive culture. For example, division between the President and Secretary-Treasurer has delayed implementation of a formal budgeting process—one of the Monitor’s first recommendations in 2021.
“These cultural problems are also contributing to an environment in which Union personnel are fearful to call out corruption or misconduct for fear of losing their jobs, the death knell for an effective anti-corruption regime.”
Read the Federal Monitor’s Report online.
The Monitor’s next Report is due in about three months.