DETROIT _ Gary Jones, the presumptive incoming United Auto Workers and a longtime union accountant, was witness _ the union says unwittingly _ to some of the spending during 2015 conventions in California that has drawn federal prosecutors' attention.
Jones was among several passengers on a $1,600 ride from a transportation company that was cited in an indictment last month, the Detroit Free Press has learned. Another passenger on the Palm Springs-to-San Diego trip was former UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell, who retired suddenly after his home was raided by FBI agents in November 2017.
Jewell is not among the seven people charged in the case, in which prosecutors say Fiat Chrysler Automobiles funneled money meant for autoworker training to UAW officers in an effort to influence contract negotiations.
No one has suggested that Jones was involved in improper conduct, and the union vigorously objects to any suggestion that he should have noticed anything amiss in Palm Springs. The union argues that hundreds of people were there and Jones had his own busy schedule.
Jones declined repeated requests for comment.
In January 2015, he was among UAW officers at meetings held in the desert resort town where thousands of dollars in spending has been tied by federal prosecutors to corruption involving the Fiat Chrysler National Training Center, operated jointly by the auto company and the union.
Jones, a UAW regional director, is described as a detail-oriented accountant whose fastidious approach is just what the union needs in its top post as it seeks to move past the scandal.
A March criminal indictment of Nancy Adams Johnson, the union's No. 2 negotiator with FCA, said she illegally spent thousands in training center money in Palm Springs that month on personal items; $4,587 for a meal at LG's Prime Steak House; $6,900 at the Renaissance Resort & Spa; and the $1,600 trip to San Diego.
The presence of top officials in the company of someone who allegedly was improperly spending thousands of dollars caught investigators' attention, the Free Press was told.
Palm Springs was the site of two events in January 2015.
One was an annual regional conference attended by 250 to 300 members. Apart from the Johnson indictment, other Palm Springs spending has been questioned: A U.S. Labor Department audit found that a Kansas City local in Jones' region did not properly document $11,000 in expenses, though Jones himself would not have approved that spending.
Palm Springs also was the site that month of a UAW-Chrysler joint program conference on health and safety for an estimated 200 attendees that included UAW officials.
The UAW, which is funded with member dues, was financially responsible for the regional event. The UAW-Chrysler Training Center, funded by the auto company, was accountable for the health and safety conference, the UAW confirmed.
The Johnson indictment described the San Diego trip as a limousine ride; union officials said it was in a bus that holds 40 people. A UAW spokesman said it was unreasonable to think Jones would have questioned the cost of the ride.
Perhaps, said Andy Arena, former special agent in charge of the FBI in Michigan.
"In my career, you're very careful with other people's money. If not, there's always a problem down the road," said Arena, now executive director of the Detroit Crime Commission, a nonprofit working to improve public safety.
"We all look at situations differently depending on your training and background," he said. "Accountants tend to be more about dotting their I's and crossing their T's. You're always looking at who's paying."
Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and an expert on labor issues, says the UAW doesn't have a culture of profligate spending.
"Does that mean there haven't been isolated outrageous incidents? Those have taken place," Shaiken said. "What is critical is how that institution reacts."
He noted that UAW President Dennis Williams has responded to the training center scandal by letting go officers who appear to be involved, including Jewell.
In December 2017, Williams described Jewell's departure.
"Norwood and I had been talking for several months about what was going on at the NTC and other things that were concerning us about FCA, and it was his decision to retire. I concur with his decision, and I wish him well," Williams said.
"We will never tolerate this type of misconduct," Williams said. "Based on the information we have, we believe several former UAW officials acted in a clear violation of UAW policy. This is not acceptable and the actions of a few individuals should not be held against the entire union and its membership."
The attorney for Jewell declined to return multiple phone calls seeking comment.
The federal indictment of Johnson says her spending of money meant for autoworkers, was illegally authorized by FCA Vice President Alphons Iacobelli before contract negotiations. Iacobelli has pleaded guilty to paying off union leaders.
FCA and UAW officials deny that contract talks were tainted, insisting that those indicted were driven by greed and personal corruption.
The labor contract was signed in November 2015. UAW officials began an internal investigation of the Chrysler training money in January 2016, and tried with no success to get records from the Fiat Chrysler training center, which has its own management structure. The UAW finally obtained records in May 2016. Johnson retired weeks later. A UAW report is still pending.
Federal officials say Johnson paid a $1,652 bill from Cardiff Limousine and Transportation in Palm Springs with Fiat Chrysler National Training Center money.
UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg said the transportation protocol seemed routine.
"Many of our members, when they travel, to save costs on cab fare, use a rented bus," he said. "In this case, it was a bus that held 40 people. I don't know that anybody knew who paid for the bus. You land at an airport and get on the bus."
A Cardiff Limousine spokesman said the company doesn't discuss client detail but he said that a $1,600 bill likely wasn't a typical one-way trip. It more likely involved a "hold" that keeps the chauffeur on-site awhile. A bus, he noted, costs $145 an hour plus taxes.
It is about 120 miles between Palm Springs and San Diego.
UAW members and organized labor observers have described Jones as a steady hand who can effectively navigate the organization through times of change and uncertainty. He is set to take over for Williams, 64, whose retirement this summer was planned. UAW presidents traditionally decline to seek re-election after their 65th birthday.
Jones, 60, of O'Fallon, Mo., oversees 17 states including California in his role as regional director. He was nominated in November 2017 by the oldest and largest UAW caucus, the Reuther Caucus, to head up the slate seeking election in June 2018. He would be president for four years.
Having started with the UAW at a Ford plant in Broken Arrow, Okla., Jones moved into top accounting roles in the office of secretary-treasurer from 1992-2002.
Both were UAW contract negotiators with Fiat Chrysler, and Johnson served on the board of directors for Jewell's nonprofit Making Our Children Smile charity.
In 2014 and 2015, Johnson is listed on Internal Revenue Service filings as the charity's vice president.
Jewell allowed his charity to go dormant, as did other UAW officers, as state registrations expired, starting in July 2016, after questions were raised about accountability. The UAW International Executive Board changed its charity policy in spring 2017.
As part of a plea deal released in January 2018, former FCA U.S. labor relations chief Iacobelli named Making Our Children Smile as one of several nonprofits to have received hundreds of thousands of dollars improperly from the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center.
Federal authorities declined to confirm whether additional 501(c)(3) charity board members were part of the ongoing investigation.
