Union Watchdog: UAW Leaders Bask In Puerto Rico As Members Get Laid Off
Given the union's history of 'luxury travel and other lavish personal expenses,' the choice to meet in Puerto Rico is a curious choice for a union trying to clean up its act.
By Peter List, Editor | April 3, 2024
It’s only been a few years since the United Auto Workers (UAW) emerged from a federal investigation that, according to the New York Times, “found widespread corruption, with a dozen senior officials, including two former presidents, convicted of embezzling more than $1 million in union funds for luxury travel and other lavish personal expenses.”
Yet, to some, it appears that UAW leaders may be returning to the past practices of their predecessors as a union watchdog raises questions about the UAW’s new leadership's choice to travel to Puerto Rico for a union meeting.
Noting that "there isn’t a single Stellantis manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico," the Center for Union Facts (CUF) is calling into question the decision of UAW leadership to hold its Stellantis National Council meeting at a luxurious resort in Puerto Rico, rather than closer to home.
Recently, the UAW’s Stellantis National Council held a meeting. This isn’t news, national councils do need to meet, after all. What is news is the venue they chose for it. Rather than taking a meeting close to home, Shawn Fain, Rich Boyer, the UAW’s local Stellantis officers decamped from a cold Michigan March to the Sheraton Resort and Casino in sunny Puerto Rico for a week by the beach.
The Sheraton Puerto Rico is a luxurious spot, offering Puerto Rico’s largest casino, an infinity pool, expensive restaurants, and even catamaran trips. As a cherry on top, it’s all just a few minutes away from the beach! It’s definitely a little expensive, but with so many nice amenities it’s easy to see why the UAW leadership would prefer it to a convention center in Michigan. There isn’t a single Stellantis manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico, but we suppose that’s not important compared to working on a good tan.
The choice of venues is of particular interest as workers continue to be laid off at Stellantis.
“While the UAW-Stellantis council was soaking up the sun, UAW members with Stellantis were suffering,” CUF states.
This year, hundreds of supplemental (temporary) employees working for Stellantis have been laid off, with some estimates expecting thousands to be out of work once layoffs are finished.
The return to traveling to warmer climates for union confabs is curious given UAW President Shawn Fain’s desire to set himself apart from the corruption of prior UAW presidents.
At a time when Fain and UAW leaders are hoping to unionize foreign-owned automakers, with travel to exotic places like Puerto Rico, the new union leadership may run the risk of being viewed by its current members, as well as potential new members, as being only a slight departure from the prior leaders who spent millions of dollars of members’ dues on themselves.