The federally appointed monitor tasked with overseeing the United Auto Workers, Neil Barofsky, is ratcheting up his conflict with UAW President Shawn Fain, announcing another investigation into the union leader who rose to national prominence amid the successful “Stand Up Strike” against the Big Three automakers.
Yet newly unveiled documents suggest Barofsky’s pursuit of Fain has less to do with concerns over union self-dealing and more to do with the politics of Israel-Palestine.
Barofsky was appointed in 2021 as the result of the Department of Justice-led consent decree put in place in lieu of prosecution of the union itself for rampant corruption, following prison sentences for two consecutive UAW presidents.
Yet it’s what the UAW did amid Israel’s war on Gaza that drew the attention of its federal monitor, according to records obtained by Drop Site and confirmed by recent court filings.
I understand that that’s what the union leaders think. I’m asking why they’re saying so in their official capacity on behalf of union workers who often aren’t actually inclined to think so. Apparently the resolution is more popular with the college teaching assistants in the union than it is with actual auto workers, with whom even the union’s endorsement of Biden is controversial. IMO while the country as a whole has to pick a single policy regarding Israel regardless of how divisive the issue is, the union shouldn’t since it doesn’t actually have to.
Because, as they said, this is something they have done many, many times in the past.