US justice department investigating UAW president over corruption allegations

UAW President Shawn Fain looks on during a United Auto Workers (UAW) union members meeting, in Belvidere, Illinois, on 9 November 2023. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters View image in fullscreen UAW President Shawn Fain looks on during a United Auto Workers (UAW) union members meeting, in Belvidere, Illinois, on 9 November 2023. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters US justice department investigating UAW president over corruption allegations Shawn Fain calls allegations ‘bogus’ and says attorney holds a ‘grudge’ against him over union’s ‘anti-war stance’ on Gaza The US Department of Justice is probing allegations against United Auto Workers (UAW) president Shawn Fain that he put pressure on another high-ranking union official to provide benefits to his fiancee and sister and then retaliated against the official who refused to approve it. On Sunday, Fain, who is running for his second term as union president, said the accusations are false and a part of election interference against him. Last month, the union’s court-appointed monitor released a report alleging that Fain improperly used his authority to push for a financial bonus for his fiancee and get worker’s compensation for his sister, Bloomberg reported . When UAW’s vice-president, Rich Boyer, refused to approve the benefits, Fain removed him as chief negotiator with carmaker Stellantis NV. The report ultimately deferred a decision on disciplinary action, and a federal grand jury subpoenaed the monitor over its report. In 2021, a federal court by consent decree appointed Neil Barofsky to be the independent monitor of the United Auto Workers after a corruption scandal at the union. Barofsky was previously appointed by George W Bush in 2008 to oversee the $700bn bailout of Wall Street. Fain was elected as a reform candidate to serve as president of the union in March 2023. Boyer ran as a challenger for a union executive board position and won in 2022 in the first direct ballot election. Fain alleges that the monitor has been weaponized by Boyer, his election rival, ahead of the labor union elections that begin in August. “Let’s be clear about what’s going on here: Rich Boyer has fed the monitor false allegations about me and is now trying to weaponize these bogus allegations to steal the upcoming UAW election. He knows he can’t win a fair fight because he has no real platform to run on,” Fain said in a statement. Fain argued in a statement that the conflict between him and Boyer actually stems from Fain’s refusal to permit Boyer to hire family members into union positions. “The truth when it comes to Boyer is that I didn’t want him running the Stellantis department because he wasn’t doing a good job for our members,” Fain added. “I wouldn’t let him hire family members into UAW positions, and I wouldn’t stand by while he bargained concessions with Stellantis and failed to enforce our contract.” Fain meanwhile accused Barofsky of holding a “political grudge” over the union’s support for a ceasefire in