Ford, GM Subpoenaed for Info on UAW Training Centers

The U.S. Dept. of Justice has requested information from Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. about employee training centers they operated jointly with the United Auto Workers union.

Both centers are similar in operation to a center managed by the UAW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, where former top labor negotiators are among those accused of siphoning off some $4.5 million in funds intended for worker training.

At GM, investigators are especially interested in Joe Ashton, a former UAW vice president who joined GM’s board in 2014, and Cindy Estrada, who succeeded him at the union and heads the UAW’s GM department, according to The Detroit News.

GM says it is cooperating with the federal probe and confirms it also has launched its own internal review of the matter. The company has not clarified whether Alphons Iacobelli, FCA’s former lead labor negotiator, remains a GM employee. Iacobelli is suspected of being at the center of the scam at FCA.

Ford also is cooperating with the federal investigation. But it declares itself confident that its UAW training center has been managed correctly. Ford does not plan to initiate its own internal review.