Subject: A New Twist In The UAW Corruption Scandal (It’s Not Over Yet): LRI INK

February 17, 2022

To visit the blog post, click on the link below the article.

A New Twist In The UAW Corruption Scandal
(It’s Not Over Yet)

A federal court recently approved the United Auto Workers referendum results, meaning that the union’s members will now directly elect their officers. This move aims to be part of the solution (along with a court-appointed watchdog) geared toward curbing UAW corruption (which has persisted for over a decade with prison sentences handed out to several union officials, including former UAW presidents), once and for all. 

 

Not so fast, though. Three fresh federal lawsuits point the finger toward UAW’s Chrysler corruption scandal, and these filings set the stage for more impropriety to come to light. All told, the cases (which landed in Michigan and Ohio courts) lay out the case for UAW officials secretly working behind the scenes with Fiat Chrysler while these union officials neglected to address concerns of workers who they claimed to represent.  

 

All three cases put allegations of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) violations on the table, and the accusations are nothing to take lightly. In effect, UAW officials allegedly accepted bribes from Chrysler and adopted “company-friendly positions” while pressuring workers to accept lower pay for full-time jobs. Further, the union officials allegedly declined to file labor grievances on behalf of workers and never made a move to update older collective bargaining agreements.

 

In other corruption news, the Freedom Foundation recently released a report that detailed how over 200 labor unions seized upon the pandemic-driven Paycheck Protection Program in early 2020 before they were eligible (per the Small Business Administration rules at that time). In doing so, these unions received forgivable loans to the tune of over $36 million, about a year before unions qualified for this relief (due to a provision in the Biden-signed American Rescue Plan). 

 

As the Washington Free Beacon notes, the second-largest reported loan of the bunch went to the national Teamsters organization, which the report lists as accepting a $3.3 million loan. The Freedom Foundation’s findings also detail the penalties (for making intentionally false statements to secure these loans) ranging from 5-30 years in prison and up to a $1,000,000 fine, so it’s fair to say that the subject is an open-ended one.

Share

Links

**********

Union Bailout

 

Increased Agency Coordination Announced For Labor Initiatives

https://lri.link/3uQJAA1

 

Republicans Ask Watchdog To Review Error In Seating NLRB Member

https://lri.link/3gJMZZd

 

Biden Task Force Aims to Increase Unionization Efforts With Pro-Union Report

https://lri.link/34GqqSI

 

Amicus Curiae Brief Of The U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Before The National Labor Relations Board In The Atlantic Opera, Inc.

https://lri.link/3LCaC4g

 

Gig Economy Central to Labor Board Debate On Contractor Test    

https://lri.link/3GQWPTV

 

**********

Covid-19’s Effects On Healthcare

 

Health Care Workers Say They're Facing Verbal And Physical Abuse Amid Spread Of COVID Misinformation

https://lri.link/3sJEdQn

 

16 States File New Lawsuit Against Healthcare Worker COVID Vaccine Mandate

https://lri.link/3GNLpA7

 

Northeast Ohio Hospitals Place Hundreds Of Workers On Leave For Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine

https://lri.link/3gR2rmc

 

**********

Organizing

 

Starbucks Fired Memphis Workers Trade Accusations Amid Bitter Union Fight 

https://lri.link/34IcoAb

 

Seattle's Flagship Starbucks Location Throws Weight Behind Nationwide Unionization Push 

https://lri.link/3sJMc03

 

NYC-Area Starbucks Locations File To Unionize, Joining National Push

https://lri.link/3sK05eq

 

**********

Education/Athletics

 

Employee Status Sought For College Athletes As Group Files Complaint On Behalf Of UCLA, USC Players

https://lri.link/3BpHicC

 

Effort to Classify Student-Athletes as Employees Continues With New Twist to Include Public University Students

https://lri.link/3oP7Y1d

 

California College Of The Arts Workers Strike In Effort To Push Union Contract Bargaining Forward

https://lri.link/3sJHSOe

 

Duke University Press Workers Union Wins Election To Unionize

https://lri.link/3gPeaSx

 

**********

Tech/Media

 

Google Fiber Workers Set For Union Vote In March

https://lri.link/3rRvLzD

 

COVID Safety Agreement Between Studios, Guilds Set To Expire Sunday 

https://lri.link/3oLuckQ

 

**********

Manufacturing

 

King County Makes Novel Multimillion-Dollar Bid To End Crippling Concrete Strike

https://lri.link/34ZTGUc

 

Texas Refinery Workers To Vote On Exxon Contract Proposal 

https://lri.link/351bbn6

 

**********

Labor Around The World

 

Putting USMCA To The Test, GM Workers In Mexico Vote To Join New Union

https://lri.link/3JurV5q

Share

About Labor Relations INK

Labor Relations INK is published weekly and is edited by Labor Relations Institute, Inc. Feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think might enjoy it. New subscribers can sign up by visiting here.


If you use content from this newsletter please attribute it to Labor Relations Institute and include our website: http://www.LRIonline.com 


Contributing editors for this issue: Phillip Wilson, Greg Kittinger, and Kimberly Ricci 


You are receiving this email because you subscribed to receive our labor relations newsletters and updates. You can manage your email preferences by clicking the link at the bottom of any of our email communications.


About Labor Relations Institute

LRI exists to help our clients thrive and become extraordinary workplaces. We improve the lives of working people by strengthening relationships with their leaders and each other. For over 41 years LRI has led the labor and employee relations industry, driven by our core values and our proven process, the LRI Way.

 

Share