Reports that the United Auto Workers (UAW) is building an expensive, luxury retreat for former union president Dennis Williams are compounding already boiling worker anger over exposures of rampant corruption in the UAW leadership.
Several top UAW officials have already been convicted in the scandal involving the siphoning off of millions of dollars from union-management joint training funds into the pockets of union officials.
According to the Detroit News, the UAW is building a 1,885-square-foot three-and-one-half bath lakefront "cottage" at the union's Black Lake Conference Center in northern Michigan. The residence designated for the use of Williams will feature granite countertops, a wood-burning fireplace, stainless steel appliances, a wine cooler and a patio overlooking Black Lake.
Blueprints filed with Cheboygan County in 2017 indicate that the "cottage" will also feature a stone veneer and an aged metal roof. The kitchen will feature cherry cabinets with a "chocolate glaze finish" and walls covered with "white cedar shiplap." There will also be a hidden storage closet in the master bedroom, a feature sure to raise eyebrows given the large amounts of misappropriated funds pocketed by UAW officials.
The initial cost of the project was pegged at $285,000, a likely gross underestimate given the expensive finishing. A building contractor contacted by the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter said, "I read the Detroit News report on Williams' lake house. $285,000 for an 1,885 square foot house might be appropriate for a worker's cottage that was finished with asphalt shingles, vinyl siding, modest windows, and laminate countertops. But this is a totally different animal.
"When you add antique copper roofing, stone veneers, a natural stone patio, picture windows, granite counters and cherry cabinets, the actual cost will easily be twice the amount they published. It's luxury, not a cottage."
A General Motors worker in the Detroit area contacted by the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter remarked, "With all the corruption going on you would think they would show some self-respect. It's brazen. It's back to the haves and the have-nots. That's a pretty nice perk for just four years (as president). It's ridiculous."
Nancy Johnson, a former top aide to Norwood Jewell, who headed the UAW Chrysler department during the 2015 contract negotiations, has implicated Williams, who retired in June, in the UAW corruption scandal. Johnson and other Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) negotiators were involved in a $9 million bribery scheme involving the siphoning off of money from the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center (NTC) by Fiat Chrysler officials to influence contract terms while keeping the UAW "fat, dumb and happy," according to statements by indicted FCA officials.
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