SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – The UAW International Executive Board has voted to begin Article 30 proceedings against former President Gary Jones and his indicted right-hand man, Vance Pearson, Local 4 has learned.
By filing charges under Article 30, board members are seeking to remove Jones and Pearson from their elected positions within the union and to expel them from membership in the UAW.
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The Article 30 charges assert that Jones and 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.
“This is a somber day, but our UAW constitution has provided the necessary tools to deal with these charges,” acting UAW President Rory Gamble said. “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.”
The United Automobile Workers revealed Friday -- just two days after announcing massive new financial controls on the union and its activity -- that board members would make a move to rid the union of some former leaders.
The Board of Directors approved Jones’ leave of absence earlier this month. Now, some board members are looking to make it a permanent leave for Jones and Pearson.
Metro Detroit residents won’t soon forget the images of federal agents going in and out of Jones’ home in Canton Township, pulling out evidence and counting cash on the garage floor.
At the same time, agents from the FBI and IRS were going through Pearson’s home and office. A week later, federal officials indicted Pearson on embezzlement charges. Soon after, the union put him on leave.
When their homes were raided, Jones and Pearson both sat on the UAW executive board. Now, the executive board is moving on them to try to kick them out of the union.
The board voted Wednesday to start the Article 30 process against Jones and Pearson.
Here’s how Article 30 works, according to the UAW constitution:
The rarely used mechanism requires five board members to agree to sign a charging document and send it to the UAW secretary treasurer. He or she then passes the charges to the accused.
Within 10 days, a special international executive board meeting is called to set up a trial committee made up of UAW convention delegates not on the executive committee.
Nominated names are drawn from a box. Fifty names are drawn and presented to attorneys for the union and the accused. They have the option to eliminate 10 names.
Once the list is down to 12 delegates, they are notified to attend a trial within five days. A two-thirds vote is required to determine guilt.