A Lack of Accountability Engenders Only Mismanagement by Management

When workers are forced to join a union as a condition of employment, union bosses have no incentive to do their job: improve business conditions for their workers.

No accountability can lead to out-of-touch leaders, for example, Eldon J. Renaud, former President of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2164 at the GM Corvette factory in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Renaud-- forty-six year employee of GM and former mayor of Bowling Green, Kentucky—was first elected president of the UAW local in 1982.  Renaud came under hot water during his time as president, twice having been accused of “conduct unbecoming” in 2008.

Marty Marcum, a union member of Local 2164, was quoted by the Bowling Green Daily News in 2008 explaining his accusations against Renaud: the mismanagement of union funds. According to the article:

“Marcum alleges Renaud bullied the union’s financial secretary Cindy Shelton to release $7,000 in funds to purchase new chairs for the union hall when a majority of membership did not give approval.”

Not surprisingly, Marcum was also quoted as saying of Renaud, “Until we cut that cancer out, we’ll always suffer.”

Apparently, a lot of members agree with Marcum because they performed a successful surgery in their most recent election. Finally on May 12^th, Renaud was resoundingly rejected by the members of the local, and will now have to give up his long held seat.

In the four way race, Renaud only garnered 23 percent of the vote, which was not even enough to make the run-off election, which was held on May 19^th.

The new president of the local will be Monica Williams. Time will tell whether Williams will go the way of Renaud, or be freed to act in the best interests of workers since right-to-work was passed in Warren County late last year.

Whatever the truth of the accusations against Renaud as a union officer, right-to-work allows workers the ability to leave if they are unhappy with how their union dues are being spent. Maybe, if Warren County had been a right-to-work county in 2008 then these workers could have withheld their money.