By Kalea Hall and Nora Eckert
DETROIT (Reuters) -The federal monitor overseeing the United Auto Workers union determined that UAW President Shawn Fain retaliated against Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock by reassigning some of her duties last year, according to a report released on Tuesday.
The monitor, New York attorney Neil Barofsky, opened the investigation in February 2024 to review allegations around the two officers’ actions, including that Mock said she had faced retaliation for her refusal or reluctance to authorize certain expenditures for Fain’s office.
“Fain acted on a premeditated plan to take action against Mock,” the report stated, adding that the union president retaliated against her because she refused “to grant exceptions to the strict policy restrictions governing the expenditure of Union resources.”
The UAW did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mock also did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.
In the report, the monitor called for the union’s executive board to reinstate the various responsibilities stripped from Mock, which included purchasing, benefits and pensions.
The secretary-treasurer was also previously accused of obstructing union operations and seeking to influence board votes, claims the monitor said were unfounded.
Barofsky’s latest report is damaging to Fain, a symbol of union power resurgence across the country during a 2023 strike against the Detroit Three automakers, Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis, maker of Ram trucks and Jeeps.
The monitor was appointed in 2021 following a years-long corruption scandal that resulted in the federal convictions of several former leaders. He has since regularly released reports on his team’s investigations into the union’s practices. Tuesday’s report is the twelfth from the monitor’s office.
(Reporting by Kalea Hall and Nora Eckert in Detroit; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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