Two months ago a U.S. District Judge approved a consent decree that would put the Auto Workers under a federal monitor for six years. Prosecutors selected veteran lawyer Neil Barofsky, after reviewing multiple candidates proposed by UAW. If approved, Barofsky would “head a team tasked with implementing reforms that target union election, compliance, and investigations.” Barofsky previously served as special inspector general for the organization’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.
One UAW member, Matt Horner, said he thinks it’s “obnoxious the UAW had the ability to choose the monitor given the severity and extent of the crimes committed by our former leadership.” We agree.
In other UAW news, 3,000 workers are on strike at the Volvo plant in Dublin, Virginia. More details here.
Coal miners in Alabama are also on strike trying to earn back the concessions their union agreed to five years ago that restored only $1.50 out of the $6 paycut workers had previously received. They have been on strike since April 1 and have been publicly blasting their union, the United Mine Workers of America, for selling them out in the process.
Meanwhile, UMWA has also reportedly signaled that they will support a transition away from fossil fuel in exchange for “new jobs in renewable energy, spending on technology to make coal cleaner and financial aid for miners who lose their jobs.”
