UAW president under investigation by federal monitor

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United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain testifies about the toll of working hours on laborers before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 14, 2024. DETROIT – United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain is under investigation by a federal court-appointed watchdog who's tasked with monitoring the union and eliminating corruption, according to a Monday court filing. The monitor, Neil Barofsky, is investigating whether Fain abused his power as union president. He also accuses union leaders, including Fain, of obstructing the investigation and interfering with his access to information. Such actions could potentially violate a 2020 consent decree between the UAW and Justice Department that avoided a federal takeover of the union. "The Monitor has attempted for months to garner the Union's cooperation in gathering the information needed to conduct a full investigation, but the Union has effectively slow-rolled the Monitor's access to requested documents," the court filing reads. More recently, the filing says the monitor expanded the investigation to include additional allegations of retaliation by Fain against one of the union's vice presidents. The monitor also opened an unrelated investigation into another unnamed UAW International Executive Board, or IEB, member, a regional director, after receiving allegations of potential embezzlement, according to the filing. The UAW did not immediately respond for comment.