“The corruption isn’t bags full of cash. It’s the appointed positions that should be elected, the union-management partnership, the nepotism learned from the companies, and the turn from international solidarity to protectionism.”
That’s long been my answer to workers who say the UAW’s problem is bags of company cash under the table.
I still give that answer. But then came a garage full of cash, at UAW President Gary Jones’ home.
Activists like me have stood for the reforms necessary for union democracy and militancy. But we have defended the UAW against members who want to chuck the union out when grievances are answered with “Management has the right” and “Just be glad you got a job.”
I was an observer at the 2019 UAW Constitutional Convention. When Gary Jones accepted the UAW presidential nomination, he said he must “first thank my Savior.” I was unhappy with this sectarian preamble to his presidency. But I did not yet realize how crudely UAW traditions had been abandoned at the top. Then came the baubles and bank account revelations that for socialists with deeper questions I will now detail further in a short article.