Gary Jones, U.A.W. President, to Take a Leave of Absence

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: New York Times



Gary Jones, the president of the United Automobile Workers union, which is under investigation over allegations of financial wrongdoing, is taking a leave of absence, the union said in a statement on Saturday. The union said Mr. Jones sought the leave of absence after a vote by its executive board. The statement did not elaborate on the board’s vote.

In August, federal agents raided his home and executed search warrants at a U.A.W. resort in Michigan, the F.B.I. said at the time. The investigation has uncovered the improper use of millions of dollars of funds and bribery of union officials by auto executives. In some cases, money was spent on personal travel, Rolex watches and other high-priced items.

In the statement, Mr. Jones said the union was fighting for its members. “I do not want anything to distract from the mission,” he said. “I want to do what’s best for the members of this great union.”

His leave will begin on Sunday. The union’s vice president, Rory Gamble, will serve as interim president.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/02/business/uaw-president-gary-jones.html

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One wonders if the "auto executives" were investigated for bribery.

[groundloop]

1. Agreed, those 'auto executives' need to be investigated and named as well

Given the current state of affairs in our government I'm not sure what to think of this. Is it simply a case of the right wing attempting to weaken a union, or was there actual wrongdoing? I haven't heard enough about this case to form an opinion yet, but the current occupant in the White House is certainly not to be trusted.

If Mr. Jones did in fact accept bribes he should be prosecuted and put away for a long time, as should the 'auto executives' who were involved. (But I suspect we'll never hear a peep about them).

[BumRushDaShow]

2. I did a quick search for "auto executives" involved in bribery

and the only thing that kept coming up was an investigation of DaimlerChrysler execs accused of engaging in bribery in Europe back in 2005/2006.

[MichMan]

4. There have been dozens of stories in the Detroit papers for the last year.

3 FCA execs were charged and plead guilty along with several UAW officials. Those cases involved stealing funds from a joint FCA/UAW Training center.

The last few indictments and charges, including Jones, have involved embezzlement from the UAW and have nothing to do with the auto manufacturers.

[MichMan]

3. He is alleged to have embezzled UAW funds, not for accepting bribes

So far, the investigation has found 3 FCA executives charged and 9 UAW officials charged. All so far have plead guilty or accepted plea deals in exchange for cooperation.

The initial wave involved stealing funds from a joint FCA/UAW Training center and using for lavish personal expenses. Both company and union executives were found complicit in the scheme.

The last handful charged were guilty of embezzlement of UAW funds with vendor kickbacks and unallowable expenses. For example, it is alleged that they would schedule a 3 day UAW conference at a resort, and then top UAW officials would continue to stay there for up to 2 additional months, playing golf daily, buying hundreds of thousands of golf gear and apparel, dining at high end restaurants including $200 bottles of wine etc. all charged to the union.

The investigation and following indictments & convictions have been front page news in Detroit for over a year, and based on the previous convictions and what has been reported, it appears that both Jones and previous UAW president Dennis Williams are in very serious legal trouble. The Rank & File has been pre occupied with contract negotiations, but there is a lot of unrest on whether or not the UAW is bargaining with their interests or their own. There is a lot of questions right now of whether the 6 week strike against GM was done in order to serve the interest of Jones and not the workers.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. "So far, the investigation has found 3 FCA executives charged"

Where I am assuming "FCA" = "Fiat-Chrysler"? And if so, then that answered my question.

Am not ignoring the other stuff but I was wondering who was being referenced in the OP article where it stated - "and bribery of union officials by auto executives".

Thank you!

[MichMan]

7. The first 8 people convicted were involved in bribery. There are 7 others for embezzlement.

They were

1) FCA Executives
a) Al Iacobelli,
b) Jerome Durden
c) Michael Brown

They were charged and plead guilty to defrauding the joint Chrysler/UAW Training Center by diverting credit cards and funds to several UAW officials in order to receive favorable treatment at bargaining time

2) Those UAW officials who took the bribes were;

a) Monica Morgan-Holliefield (widow of UAW VP General Holliefield)
b) Virdell King
c) Keith Mickens
d) Nancy Johnson
e) Norwood Jewell

They also all took plea deals and plead guilty. They had all quit or retired before being convicted.

During the course of those above convictions, additional information was collected from the plea deals regarding the separate issue with embezzlement of UAW funds

So far, the following UAW officials have been charged for those activities

3) Embezzlement of UAW funds. These were either kickbacks from vendors supplying UAW branded "trinkets" like watches and apparel or unallowable expenses for lavish resorts, golf merchandise, expensive liquor, dining and cigars etc. all charged to the UAW.

a) Michael Grimes (plead guilty)
b) Jeff Pietrzyk (plead guilty)
c) Vance Pearson (awaiting trial)
d) Edward "Nick" Robinson (awaiting trial)
e) Joe Ashton (not yet charged)
f) Dennis Williams (former president; has not yet been charged)
g) Gary Jones (current president; also not yet charged)

Of the above, all are recently retired except for Pearson and Jones who are both on leave. Based on the preponderance of evidence and the conviction rate so far, I would expect Ashton, Williams and Jones to be charged in the near future once the Feds complete their case.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Thank you for the details!!!

[groundloop]

6. Yep, thanks for the information. This is not good.

Crap like this can't help but deter from the cause of unions.