Detroit News: Marick Masters on UAW watchdog obstruction
United Auto Workers officials are interfering with a government watchdog tasked with rooting out corruption in one of the nation’s most influential and troubled unions, according to a report that portrayed a rocky start to the UAW’s rehabilitation. The report provided an intimate view of frustrated attempts by the federal watchdog to reform the UAW and asserts that union leaders have withheld information, failed to disclose that an active high-ranking official was being investigated for mishandling money and concealed a union-led investigation into wrongdoing, an act that appears to violate the union’s agreement with prosecutors. Marick Masters, a management professor at Wayne State University, called the report “damning” and said confirmation of 19 open investigations is a number that “raises an eyebrow.” “This places a burden on the union to demonstrate it is going to be more forthcoming, more transparent and more eager to correct the underlying problems than it has heretofore,” he said. “This is not a time to rely on business as usual practices. You’ve really got to be out front on this and taking the lead and do what you can to arrest doubts. That comes from the sincerity you have in meeting obligations.”
