As UAW strikers have been striking General Motors, the UAW’s ever-widening corruption just got wider.
Last Friday, after the United Auto Workers went out on a nationwide strike against General Motors, the Detroit News reported that federal prosecutors “charged the former top aide to United Auto Workers Vice President Joe Ashton with receiving $123,000 during a bribery and kickback conspiracy that defrauded union workers.”
Jeff Pietrzyk, 74, of Grand Island, New York, is accused of conspiring with Ashton and former UAW official Mike Grimes to receive millions in kickbacks and bribes from UAW vendors who received rigged contracts to produce union-branded watches, jackets and backpacks, according to the court filing….
Most of the details included in the criminal case Friday were first revealed last month when prosecutors charged Grimes with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering.
Pietrzyk was charged with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies in a criminal information, which means a guilty plea is expected. Wire fraud conspiracy is punishable by up to 20 years in prison while money laundering conspiracy is a 10-year felony.
Although Pietrzyk’s charges were announced after the UAW launched its strike against GM, it follows the arrest and charging of Vance Pearson—head of UAW Region 5, and a former top aide to UAW President Gary Jones—a week earlier, before the strike started.
Nevertheless, the UAW is complaining that the timing of Pietrzyk’s charges are “suspicious.”
“The charges against Jeff Pietrzyk are serious, and the conduct outlined in his charges is not just illegal, it is an affront to every member of the UAW,” the union stated on its website. “This conduct—which was suspiciously announced in the middle of our current bargaining—must not and will not distract us from negotiating the strongest possible contract for our members.”
Read more at the Detroit News.
Related:
- Where’s Gary? UAW President Is MIA During GM Strike
- Up In Smoke: Corrupt UAW Officials Spent $60,000 Of Members’ Dues On Cigars
- UAW Leaders Spent Members’ Dues On Lavish Parties, Champagne And Cigars Lit By ‘Scantily-Clad Women”
