Auto Workers Union Corruption, a capitalist custom

DETROIT, MI, March 15— The U.S. courts are investigating and charging United Auto Workers union (UAW) officials for accepting bribes from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA).
As the UAW constitutional convention approaches this June, the union mirrors the state of U.S. capitalism: corruption, declining power and influence. The situation is ripe for union misleaders and company bosses to indulge each other with bribes, luxuries, and money laundering.
The convention is supposed to set the tone for the 2019 contract talks with General Motors, Ford and FCA. But the main goal is to renew a 25 percent dues increase from 2014. Then, as now, the leadership used the contract talks with the auto bosses as the reason to keep feeding a strike fund that stands at more than $700 million. Another joke—a huge strike fund for a union that barely fights the bosses, let alone goes on strike. It is just more money to pad the misleaders’ lavish lifestyle.
Union bosses accept bribes from auto bosses
But it turns out that while UAW leaders were increasing our dues, they were also taking bribes from FCA bosses. Last July, federal prosecutors charged FCA executives with funneling $1.5 million in bribes to UAW officials in exchange for a contract that ultimately cut wages and benefits and sharply expanded the number of low-paid temporary workers. Like workers everywhere, auto workers are exploited more and more as the bosses get richer. Even more disgusting, the bribe money was taken from funds meant to train hourly workers. According to the indictments, the bribes were intended to keep UAW sellouts, “fat, dumb and happy.”
FCA’s chief negotiator, Alphons Iacobelli, and Jerome Durden, an FCA financial analyst, have both pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors. The money was going directly across the bargaining table to UAW VP for Fiat Chrysler, General Holiefield and his administrative assistant Keith Mickens. A new indictment against Mickens alleges that he and other UAW officials arranged for travel for Monica Morgan, Holiefield’s wife. Mickens also served as vice president of Leave the Light on Foundation, a phony charity used to launder money.
Morgan pleaded guilty to accepting $200,000 and UAW staffer Virdell King pleaded guilty to the improper use of a credit card to make tens of thousands of dollars of personal purchases and expensive gifts for other UAW officers. This included a $2,180 shotgun for UAW VP Norwood Jewell, who was forced into early retirement.
Expose ruling-class collusion
This scandal will keep growing. Iacobelli’s plea deal refers to a plan to make secret $50,000 payments to select UAW officers on the eve of the 2015 contract negotiations.
There was mass rank-and-file opposition to the 2015 contract. Workers are furious and threatening to reverse the dues increase and reject any initial contract settlement. Could there be a strike against FCA next year? The UAW leadership would allow a strike only to cover the stink of the current bribery scandal.
This corruption is the logical result of more than 50 years of pro-capitalist union leadership that has covered its treachery in racist “Buy American” flag-waving and being foot soldiers of the Democratic Party. UAW leaders, like the rest of the AFL-CIO leadership, work to ensure the bosses’ profits and keep a lid on the class struggle. Prosecuting a few crooks will not change that.
The Progressive Labor Party (PLP) aims to build an international communist movement, led by industrial workers, that can lead our class to power. By building an international PLP, we can plant the seeds for autoworkers worldwide to unite and take on the racist profit system.