Earlier this week, the UAW federal monitor’s report presented shocking details on how UAW President Shawn Fain had purged dissidents in his ranks. (See our story “UAW Prez Threatened to “Slit the Throats” of Critics as He Pushed No-Bid Contracts with DC Firms”)
The report paints a troubling picture about how UAW Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock was demoted from her responsibilities overseeing 11 departments within the UAW. The dispute came after Mock insisted on enforcing the federal consent decree requirement that all major contracts receive bids from at least 3 vendors.
In December of 2023, Mock angered UAW Communications Director Jonah Furman when she refused to grant a $500,000 no-bid contract a few days before Christmas to a politically connected DC consulting firm for billboards and media buys to support union organizing at Volkswagen in Chattanooga.
Given that the no-bid contract was for $500,000, a large expenditure for any union, Mock denied the request until more dialogue within the union could be had about whether the expenditure should be approved.
Union organizers debated whether spending $500,000 was an effective use of organizing resources, especially given that the no-bid contract was going to a media firm, named Conexión, which had little experience with union organizing. The firm was founded by Adrian Saenz, who was the White House’s Deputy Director for Public Engagement under President Biden and was staffed primarily by the DC-based Democratic Party.
Eventually, the contract was approved after a several week debate within the union.
Despite the contract being approved, Fain described the incident as his “breaking point.” He ultimately orchestrated a “show trial” of Mock, where she wasn’t informed of the charges against her until the very meeting where they were brought up for a vote.
Not only did the UAW Executive Council remove Mock from overseeing 11 departments, but also voted to remove her as one of the few Black women on the 57-member executive council of the AFL-CIO.
However, under the constitution of the AFL-CIO, a member of the executive council cannot be removed without a full vote by the executive council. So far, though, the AFL-CIO has declined to grant the UAW’s request to expel Mock.
As the nation’s largest labor federation, the AFL-CIO could form a committee to investigate the demotion of Mock and what is happening inside the UAW. However, the labor federation has also declined to investigate the matter.
Next year, the UAW is holding its presidential election and Mock is being pushed to run against Fain. With Fain having won his first election by only 483 out of a total of 136,485 votes from the UAW’s rank-and-file, he could be vulnerable to a challenge, particularly given the heavy amount of negative press coverage that Fain has attracted to the union as a result of the scandal.
“At this point, I think it’s highly unlikely that Fain is able to crack 60% of the union,” said one veteran UAW staffer. “Black members and women in the union are particularly upset about this, and right now Fain is vulnerable”.
