Amid the widening auto jobs bloodbath, exposures of further UAW corruption fuels rank-and-file anger

Plans by the auto companies for cost cutting, including the elimination of tens of thousands of jobs, are accelerating and deepening the crisis of the United Auto Workers apparatus, which is already reeling from a renewed investigation into corruption.

The revelation by UAW Vice President Rich Boyer that he and UAW President Shawn Fain knew that Stellantis planned to cut thousands of temporary part-time workers or supplemental employees (SEs) has further deepened the crisis of the UAW apparatus.

The mounting anger among rank-and-file workers over the 2023 contract sellout is shown by the fact that an article posted earlier this week by the World Socialist Web Site on Boyer’s letter acknowledging that the whole UAW leadership knew about the upcoming mass firings of SEs has gained a wide readership. It has been viewed more than 20,000 times.

Earlier this month, the federal monitor overseeing the UAW said his office was investigating renewed allegations of corruption in the union’s top leadership, including Fain himself. The monitor said the Fain administration was obstructing the probe by stonewalling the release of thousands of relevant documents.

The months since the signing of the 2023 auto contracts have seen Fain’s claims of a “historic” win exposed as lies. Instead of SEs being hired full-time, thousands were fired. Far from achieving “work-life balance,” the UAW agreed to lift limits on forced overtime, with Stellantis imposing 7-day, 10-hour work schedules at some locations. Meanwhile, inflation continues to ravage workers’ paychecks.

In the intervening months, the UAW negotiated substandard contracts at Freightliner and the new Ultium Cells battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio, and betrayed the courageous strike by University of California academic workers against the Gaza genocide and the police crackdown on campus protests.

Upon learning of the investigation into Shawn Fain and the UAW leadership, a Stellantis Trenton Engine worker told the WSWS, “It’s really not looking good for UAW workers. The union wants us to believe whatever they throw to us, but it’s all the same dirty bird. If you looked at Fain trying to sell us the contract online, he told lies—with all the drama. It was like a movie. You could see people were angry from the comments, because they knew it was bad.”

Currently, the Stellantis Trenton Engine plant is on critical status, forcing workers to put in long hours of overtime. “No one cares about what we are dealing with. The North Plant here closed. Some workers were sent to other plants, higher seniority workers came to the South Plant, and others retired and took the buyout.

“The rank and file were tricked. He didn’t look out for the skilled trades people, or production workers or anyone. And those poor young people who believed him and they lost their jobs.”

A GM Flint worker told the WSWS, “When Fain started, he claimed he was going to fight for us, saying he was pushing for everything—the rolling over the temps, bringing our wages up after years of concessions. The reality? We do not have a voice in this plant. None of the most profitable plants were called out [on strike] except GM Arlington, and that was only at the last minute. We should have all gone out. The flow of profits was not interrupted!