The sentencing of former UAW President Dennis Williams and the case for rank-and-file committees
Earlier this week in the US District Court in Detroit, federal prosecutors argued that Dennis Williams, the president of the United Auto Workers from 2014 to 2018, should be sent to a prison for two years for embezzling union funds.
The sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors detailed how Williams and other top officers concealed the theft of union dues through reimbursements for “union conferences” held in Palm Springs, California, and other locations. The conferences, supposed to last three to five days and held ostensibly to train local union leaders, were used as “all-expenses-paid vacation[s]” by Williams and his fellow executives, who stayed up to four months in their villas and “racked up substantial bills at golf courses, restaurants, and other venues before, during, and after the conferences.”