United Auto Employees (UAW) President Shawn Fain delivers the keynote handle on the UAW 2026 CAP Convention, the nationwide convention of the union’s political arm attended by high union officers, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 9, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
The federally appointed watchdog overseeing the United Auto Employees union discovered that its president, Shawn Fain, retaliated towards a high officer and improperly used his authority, together with in ways in which would profit his fiancée and her sister.
New York legal professional Neil Barofsky, the monitor overseeing UAW actions, stated in a report launched on Thursday that Fain retaliated towards a union official, Wealthy Boyer, after Boyer pushed again towards a few of Fain’s actions.
The monitor stated that, though among the proof may warrant disciplinary motion, he has deferred a choice pending additional evaluation. The report comes simply forward of a UAW management election, by which Fain is campaigning for a second four-year time period.
Fain stated in an announcement that Barofsky’s reviews have been politically motivated, citing what he described as a heated and extremely private disagreement with the monitor in 2024 over the union’s govt board’s name for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Now, greater than two years after changing into conscious of Vice President Boyer’s allegations, and on the eve of our election, Mr. Barofsky has chosen to publicly launch a politically charged and false report about me. Probably the most cheap conclusion is that he’s enjoying political video games and abusing his energy,” Fain wrote within the assertion, which was dated on Tuesday and launched on Thursday.
A spokesperson for Jenner & Block, the legislation agency that employs Barofsky, stated he has “acted with the best ranges of professionalism, integrity, and respect in his roles in public service, non-public observe, and as a DOJ-appointed monitor.”
Artwork Wheaton, a labor research professor at Cornell College, stated that though the federal watchdog can take extreme disciplinary motion, a few of which may have an effect on Fain’s means to run for workplace, the potential for drastic or prison punishment within the case doesn’t seem prone to attain that degree.
Fain rose to prominence in 2023 after main strikes towards Normal Motors, Ford Motor and Jeep maker Stellantis, though accusations by the monitor have bruised his fame amongst some UAW members. Boyer is one in every of a number of candidates working towards Fain.
Executives on the Detroit carmakers could be intently watching the UAW election, as Fain proved to be the union’s most combative chief in many years and gained historic contract good points after the 2023 strikes.
The UAW has been beneath federal oversight since a 2020 settlement between the UAW and the U.S. Division of Justice to resolve a union corruption scandal. The monitor’s workplace points periodic reviews concerning the union’s inside workings.
The newest report said that Fain pushed for bonuses for non-union staff at a Stellantis coaching heart, which might have benefited his fiancée. It moreover states that Fain pushed Stellantis and union leaders to intervene in a employees’ compensation matter for his fiancée’s sister after she was injured working at a Stellantis plant.
Fain and Boyer additionally clashed over different points referring to Boyer’s administration of the Stellantis division and its personnel.
The report states that when Boyer pushed again towards a few of these actions, Fain retaliated by stripping him of sure duties. The union had reassigned the duties again to Boyer following a earlier report from the monitor.
