The home of UAW President Gary Jones was raided by the FBI as negotiations with U>S. automakers got underway.
CNN
Negotiations between U.S. automakers and the United Auto Workers have been complicated by an FBI probe into the powerful union’s President.
Agents of the FBI and IRS raided the Michigan home of UAW president Gary Jones just as negotiations got underway. Raids also took place in California, Missouri and Wisconsin.
In an ongoing probe of the union, nine people have been charged with crimes, eight of them in connection with misuse of money intended for training at the UAW-FCA joint training center. The raid of Jones’ house doesn’t mean the union chief is guilty of anything. Authorities, said company officials with knowledge of the matter, believe paper files and computers/hard-drives were among the seized property.
The UAW’s contract with Detroit automakers expires Sept. 14.
The concern is that the investigation may undermine confidence in leadership and rank and file members won’t ratify whatever agreement is reached. There are 149,000 auto workers impacted. If the workers don’t ratify by the expiration of the contract, there would be a work stoppage.
Traditionally, the union picks one company to negotiate with as a “pattern” contract negotiation. This year, it is widely expected to be Ford. The union is not feeling well disposed to GM right now following the closure of the company’s Lordstown, Ohio plant, as well as other U.S. plant closures, including one in Hamtramck, adjacent to Detroit. The scandal plaguing the union revolves around FCA, so it is unlikely FCA would be the lead company.
This scandal is not doing the union any good for its image. The union has unsuccessfully tried to organize workers at Volkswagen’s plant in Tennessee, as well as Nissan and Toyota plants on the South. The lack of success, especially at VW, which has a strong tradition of working with labor unions in Germany, has stung the union. GOP lawmakers in the southern states, too, have long coordinated with foreign-owned automakers to keep the UAW out of their states.
UAW membership dropped by 35,000 in 2018, a 9 percent decrease. The loss comes from auto plants closing as production was shifted to lower cost countries where hourly rates are lower and there is nationalized healthcare. The union, which has non-auto indstry members too, said at the end of 2018 that it had 395,703 members last year, down from 430,871 in 2017.
