In April, Payday Report published an expose on how the UAW President Shawn Fain was refusing to make available International Executive Board (IEB) meeting minutes in violation of the union’s constitution. His refusal came over a brewing scandal regarding union democracy and the demotion of his running mate. (See Payday’s most recent story, “UAW Prez Threatened to “Slit the Throats” of Critics as He Pushed No-Bid Contracts with DC Firms”)
As a result of the uproar of the expose, the UAW’s Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock agreed to unilaterally release the minutes of the meeting. In order to allow members sufficient time to read the minutes, she agreed to release them at least two weeks prior to the next executive board meeting.
Despite the Executive Board meeting at the UAW’s retreat in Black Lake, Michigan this week, the previous meeting minutes were still not released to the rank-and-file of the UAW before the IEB's meeting.
Frank Goeddeke, a retired GM worker from UAW Local 653, spent two and a half years advocating for the UAW to release the meeting minutes. He even filed complaints with the UAW Public Review Board demanding their release. He says that waiting till after the following UAW Executive Board meeting hurts union demorcacy.
“It's important that these minutes come out before the next Executive Board meeting so that member activists have time to be able to see what was talked about at the last meeting and talk to their regional directors and other elected representatives before the next meeting, before more action is taken,” says Goeddeke.
Goeddeke has filed a complaint with the UAW Public Review Board asking them to release the UAW’s Executive Board meeting minutes before the next meeting.
“I am writing now to append that complaint by including an additional instance of the IEB improperly delaying members’ constitutional rights to inspect the IEB meeting minutes,” wrote Goeddeke in a late July email to the UAW’s Public Review Board. “This is a violation of the Public Review Board order in case #1866 that these minutes be available ‘…no later than two weeks prior to the next IEB meeting.’”
The UAW did not respond for comment about why they did not release the minutes.
