Disgraced UAW President Gary Jones is resigning his position as the union moves to oust him and one of the union’s regional directors in the fallout from the federal corruption probe.
The resignation was confirmed by Bernie Ricke, president of UAW Local 600, which represents more than 30,000 active and retired UAW members, including members at Ford’s Rouge Complex.
Earlier Wednesday, the UAW announced it had filed charges under Article 30 of the UAW Constitution to expel Jones and Vance Pearson, director of UAW Region 5, from membership in the union. The article establishes a process for bringing charges against officers and setting up a trial.
“The Article 30 charges, signed by the entire International Executive Board, assert that Gary Jones and Vance Pearson directed the submission of false, misleading and inaccurate expense records to the UAW Accounting Department and further concealed the true information concerning those expenses, in violation of the UAW’s Ethical Practices Code and applicable federal labor laws,” according to a news release.
“I think it’s a big step toward restoring the integrity of the organization,” Ricke said of the board’s action. “I have confidence in the board that it’s going to move forward to restore the trust of our members.”
He also had praise for acting President Rory Gamble, calling him a man of integrity.
Messages seeking comment were left for Jones’ attorney, J. Bruce Maffeo, who is based in New York.
Both Jones, who has not been charged in the probe, and Pearson, who faces charges accusing him of embezzling union money, wire fraud and money laundering, have been on leaves of absence. Jones led Region 5, a UAW region covering 17 states from Missouri to California, before becoming UAW president.
Jones, whose suburban Detroit home was searched in August, is implicated in court documents in a scheme to split up to $700,000 in union money. He has not been named, but a source has told the Free Press he is UAW Official A in the paperwork charging union official Edward Robinson. Authorities seized more than $32,000 during the raid on Jones’ home, according to court records.
Those filings against Robinson, who is charged with conspiracy to embezzle union funds and to defraud the United States and is expected to plead guilty, say that he, Pearson and officials identified as Jones and former UAW President Dennis Williams, among others, embezzled more than $1.5 million. Williams has not been charged.
Jones is also accused, as official A, of telling Robinson that one of his relatives would be taken care of if he took responsibility for the embezzlement. Jones’ home in Canton, which is a rental, was dark, with no lights or cars or signs of activity at 5:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in labor issues, said removing a president through the union’s constitutional process “would break new ground.”
However, he called such a move premature because Jones has not been formally charged or convicted and “everyone deserves his or her day in court.” Shaiken said Jones should step down from the presidency, and his leave of absence was appropriate, but those are different than being removed from office.
“You understand that a lot of UAW members have considerable anger, pain and confusion over this. One has to respect that. But I think we’ve got as a country certain norms and these are easy to blow away when you’re convinced someone is guilty,” Shaiken said.
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In a statement, Gamble highlighted the ethics reforms he announced last week, including establishment of an ethics hotline and creation of an independent ethics officer position.
“This is a somber day, but our UAW Constitution has provided the necessary tools to deal with these charges. We are committed at the UAW to take all necessary steps including continuing to implement ethics reforms and greater financial controls to prevent these type of charges from ever happening again,” Gamble said in the release.
Jones was elevated to the top spot in the union in June 2018 during the UAW’s convention in Detroit. The Free Press previously reported that Jones’ UAW career began at a Ford plant in Broken Arrow, Alabama, and he had served as the union’s top nonelected finance person for almost a decade.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com or (313) 223-4272. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.
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