The court-appointed Federal Monitor charged with oversight of the United Auto Workers union has found UAW leadership “deliberately trumped up false charges of wrongdoing against Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock.”
The findings are the result of on-going investigations of the union designed to ferret out misconduct following a series of scandals that sent two former union presidents to a federal penitentiary.
The Monitor’s 14th status report by Neil M. Barofsky reads in part:
“After a thorough investigation, the Monitor has concluded that the President’s Office’s allegations of intentional wrongdoing by the Secretary-Treasurer are false, and that President’s Office personnel continued their pattern of retaliatory actions against Secretary-Treasurer Mock by deliberately trumping up false charges of wrongdoing against Mock and then presenting them to senior Union officials. The damage to Mock’s reputation was then exacerbated by leaks to the press of the false allegations that were then widely reported.”
The investigation determined the office of UAW President Shawn Fain advanced four allegations against Mock–none of which were substantiated:
- Unilateral Suspension of the Union’s Investment Policy
- Unilaterally Keeping the Union Out of Compliance With Its Investment Policy
- The Loss of $80 Million By Failing to Return to Compliance
- Misrepresentation of the Union’s Finances
The Monitor found no evidence to support any of the trumped up charges, although it did find the union’s investment policies lacked clarity and the result was the loss of millions in potential investment earnings.
The Monitor found that Secretary-Treasurer Mock was correct when she alleged wrongful retaliation against her by the UAW leadership.
From the Report:
“The Monitor finds that Mock is correct, and that the current accusations fit a pattern of retaliation. The Union, too, has acknowledged and plans to address the Monitor’s findings that the President’s Office made key unsubstantiated or exaggerated accusations against the Secretary-Treasurer in this instance, consistent with the pattern of retaliation detailed in the recent Supplement to the Monitor’s Twelfth Status Report.”
The latest Report also found “significant dysfunction and communication failures at the Union.”
The Federal Monitor was appointed by the court as part of a consent decree with the union and charged with releasing reports roughly every six months.