Members of the United Auto Workers had to resort to filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Management Standards asking the agency to investigate charges of nepotism by the union’s top officials.
“Your department is being asked to investigate because we (the members) are not allowed to address these issues during union membership meetings,” the complaint said. “A sergeant-at-arms will attempt to usher you out of the meeting or yell for you to sit down. We need someone to look into these findings so the hard working members who work on the line each day will know that our interest is being protected.”
UAW VP Cal Rapson
UAW Vice President Cal Rapson was singled out in the complaint. 10 UAW-GM Center for Human Resources employees were indicated having close personal relations to Rapson.
The UAW-GM CHR appears to be a center for patronage. According to the complaint,
…there are approximately 76 hourly employees special assigned to the UAW-GM CHR from General Motors plants across the country, mostly from Michigan. Some are from closed plants. These individuals are simply selected based upon who they owe favors. They are protected when plant layoffs occur while their fellow union brothers and sisters with more seniority are laid off.
