ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the issue of union corruption. A common public perception is that unions often suffer from corruption involving the misuse of union funds. Several federal (and state) laws exist to prosecute such malfeasance. The 1947 Taft-Hartley Act includes provisions which proscribe corporate officials from attempting to influence union officials through bribery. The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA) imposes on unions extensive reporting requirements, as previously noted, as well as fiduciary obligations upon officials. The 1970 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law adds another layer of prosecutorial pursuit which has been used to indict and convict union officers for conspiring to corrupt their organizations through multiple criminal acts. We examine the extent of prosecution of union wrongdoing reported by the US Department of Labor (DOL)’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS). The US DOL investigates wrongdoing among unions through its Office of Investigations [Labor Racketeering and Fraud] of the Office of Inspector General. We examine in some detail a major recent union scandal involving the United Auto Workers (UAW), particularly in relation to joint training centers with the Detroit 3 auto companies (General Motors [GM], Ford, and the former FCA [Fiat Chrysler of American/now Stellantis specifically]). A significant aspect of the scandal, often overlooked in news reporting, is the way the centers were funded and the interdependencies it created between the union and the companies.
