United States: UAW president accused of misappropriation of union funds

Gary Jones, president of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union, has found himself in the firing line of federal legal authorities investigating potential corruption, following recent accusations of embezzlement against Edward Robinson, a close ally of the UAW president. Last weekend the 72-year-old, who heads up a regional council of the UAW, was accused of conspiring to misappropriate $700,000 of contributions and other financial income of the union. Robinson is the 12^th individual subject to such accusations during the scandal surrounding the misappropriation of UAW funds, which federal legal authorities have been investigating over recent years. Gary Jones’ is not named directly in these most recent accusations; on paper, he is referred to as Official A, while Dennis Williams, the former UAW president, is labelled as Official B. Edward Robinson is alleged to have misappropriated sizeable sums of cash, which was then shared with his superiors. According to the prosecutors in charge of the case, David Gardey and Steven Cares, the money was used to pay for holidays ($190,000), luxury meals ($45,000), cigars, golf trips ($75,000) and spa trips ($8,000), amongst other things. They accuse Gary Jones of having tried to cover his tracks by asking Edward Robinson to accept the misappropriated funds himself and telling him to use a prepaid phone, to avoid the matter being traced back to the top of the trade union. For the time being, Gary Jones has stepped down from the helm of the UAW, taking temporary (paid) leave. Rory Gamble, who leads salary negotiations at Ford, has taken the position on an interim basis.