UAW President Shawn Fain took to a Facebook livestream on Monday night, July 13, to criticize other top union officials and address — if only briefly — claims that he sought improper financial benefits for his fiancee, an allegation now under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Fain said the investigation is “bullshit,” adding, “those claims are completely false. I never sought special favors for anybody in my family.” Since news broke of the investigation on Sunday, Fain has defended himself in a lengthy public statement and now a livestreamed speech, calling the investigation unfair and politically motivated.
“Corporate America wants me out. The political establishments of both parties want me out,” Fain said, adding that there are “forces hurting the union.”
Fain also used the stream to sling accusations of nepotism at current UAW Vice President Rich Boyer and Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock, two weighty union officials with whom Fain has feuded since early in his tenure as president. Boyer is a key figure in the allegations involving Fain’s fiancee and is also running against Fain for the UAW’s presidency. Boyer has long claimed Fain disciplined him after he objected to Fain trying to influence him over bonuses at the fiancee’s place of work.
While Fain on Monday night did not discuss the details of what he stands accused of at length, he did say that the investigation is “total bullshit.”
In his speech, Fain said Boyer and Mock have themselves sought to hire relatives into jobs at the UAW. Fain said he stopped the hiring of Mock’s son, a UAW member, and the hiring of Boyer’s grandson, who was up for a job in the union’s security department.
Mock, when reached by the Detroit Free Press on Monday, said she never tried to hire her own son directly, that he has 15 years of union membership and is qualified to fill the roles for which he applied. Mock said her son tried to get hired in a department outside of her office, which is permitted under UAW policy. Boyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Neil Barofsky, an independent attorney federally appointed to oversee the UAW after earlier scandals in the union, has published several reports critical of Fain’s treatment of Boyer and Mock, largely finding that Fain unfairly retaliated against both union officials, motivated by petty grievances and a hell-bent agenda for his union. Fain stripped both officials of many of their responsibilities, only to have Barofsky reinstate them.
Fain said Barofsky himself is politically motivated. He accused the monitor of seeking to tip the scales of the upcoming election for UAW president because of a spat the two had over the war in Gaza.
That erupted in February 2024, when Fain and Barofsky discussed the union’s calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Barofsky had contacted Fain to alert him that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a New York-based Jewish advocacy group, had been upset by a UAW local advocating for a ceasefire.
According to the minutes of the meeting in which this discussion took place, Fain said he felt Barofsky was accusing him of being antisemitic, so he threatened to fight the monitor in the parking lot.
“We had it out at the meeting. We used foul language. We had a heated discussion, and I thought that was the end of it.” Fain said during Monday’s livestream. “Days later, however, Barofsky opens his first investigation into me.
“You know, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but I’m also not a freaking idiot,” Fain said.
“Barofsky doesn’t like me. … This is election interference, plain and simple.”
A spokesperson for Barofsky did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Previously, the office has defended him, saying he has acted professionally in his duties as monitor.
Liam Rappleye covers Stellantis and the UAW for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him: LRappleye@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: UAW leader Shawn Fain slams federal investigation, other union officials
Reporting by Liam Rappleye, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Liam Rappleye, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
