DOJ investigates UAW president Shawn Fain over alleged favouritism

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Shawn Fain has fiercely denied the allegations, but questions about the UAW aren’t new.

Fain stripped Vice President Rich Boyer of his duties as chief negotiator with Stellantis.

Two former UAW presidents have previously been convicted of embezzlement.

It’s been alleged that the President of the United Auto Workers union, Shawn Fain, pressured a high-ranking official from within to secure benefits for both his fiancée and her sister, and now the US Justice Department is investigating the matter to determine whether anything improper took place.

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A federal grand jury has since subpoenaed the union’s court-appointed monitor as part of the probe into those claims. The accusation is that Fain sought a financial bonus for his fiancée while also pushing to have her sister receive workers’ compensation from UAW vice president Rich Boyer, who was in a position to grant both.

Read: UAW Leader Gets $275K Payday While Union Dips Further Into Red

Boyer refused, and Fain allegedly retaliated by stripping him of his duties as chief negotiator with Stellantis. Fain has denied the allegations and accused Boyer of trying to influence the upcoming UAW election, which Fain and Boyer will contest this fall.

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Speaking with Bloomberg , Fain claims that his relationship with Boyer grew shaky during the first month of his presidency after he refused Boyer’s request to hire family members for positions within the union. In addition, Fain claims he took away Boyer’s duties because Stellantis hadn’t fulfilled its hiring promises.

“I’ve remained silent on the political infighting in our union over the past two years because it only distracts from our mission as a union and as a movement,” said Fain. “But the stakes are too high, and the membership deserves to know the truth.”

“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.

UAW Legal Issues

Controversies within the hierarchy of the UAW aren’t without precedent. Two former presidents, Dennis Williams, who served from 2014 to 2018, and his successor, Gary Jones, who served for 1.5 years, have both been convicted of embezzlement and have spent time in prison.

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The UAW agreed to a court-appointed monitor to oversee the union’s governance to resolve a corruption probe in 2020. The monitor says it has “substantiated” Boyer’s claims that Fain acted improperly. Fain pushed back, stating the monitor had issued a “false report,” alleging it was politically motivated and stemmed from a dispute in February 2024, when the union’s executive board approved a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

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