Jones resigns as UAW president, retires from union, effective immediately

DETROIT — Gary Jones is resigning as UAW president, the union confirmed on Thursday. Jones also told the UAW he would retire from the union, effective immediately. 

"The UAW announced today that upon formal filing of Article 30 charges against him, Gary Jones, through his attorney, has informed the UAW IEB that he was resigning as President of the UAW effective immediately," the union's Thursday statement said. 

News of Jones' decision came shortly after the UAW's International Executive Board voted unanimously at an emergency meeting Wednesday to seek the permanent removal of Jones and regional director Vance Pearson, who also is on leave after being charged with fraud and embezzlement. Jones has not been charged with any crimes. The UAW's board filed charges against Jones and Pearson under Article 30 of the UAW's constitution, the union said in a statement.

"Gary has been a member of the UAW for 44 years and began as a factory worker and worked his way up to president of the union where he led the union in its recent strike against GM," Bruce Maffeo, Jones' lawyer, said in an emailed statement on Thursday. 

"Gary made the decision to retire before learning of the charges filed yesterday and did so in order to allow the union to focus on its core mission to improve the lives of its members and families. Gary appreciates the support provided to him by his family and friends and offered the following quote:

“While I don’t know what my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has in store for me, I will look to him for guidance and support in the days and months to come."

Jones has been on leave since Nov. 3.

It was not clear if or when Pearson would formally resign. 

Earlier Wednesday, court officials scheduled a plea hearing for Joe Ashton, a former UAW vice president. Ashton is expected to plead guilty to conspiracy charges on Dec. 4.

The Article 30 charges, which the UAW said were signed by all 12 board members, assert that Jones and Pearson "directed the submission of false, misleading and inaccurate expense records to the UAW Accounting Department," the union's statement said. They seek to expel Jones and Pearson from the union, in addition to stripping them of their elected positions.

"This is a somber day, but our UAW Constitution has provided the necessary tools to deal with these charges," Rory Gamble, who took over for Jones as acting president on Nov. 3, said in the statement.

Article 30 allows charges to be filed with the signatures of either five executive board members or a number of local union leaders. Some locals have been gathering signatures in an effort to file charges, but they had not yet reached the necessary numbers.

According to the constitution, the board was to meet 10 days after the charges are filed to prepare for a trial. A 12-person trial committee panel would have been selected. Following the trial, if Jones and Pearson were found guilty by a two-thirds vote of the panel, they would be expelled from the union.

Jones requested a paid leave of absence several days after a former aide became the 12th person charged by the U.S. Justice Department in connection with its corruption probe of the UAW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Ashton became the 13th on Nov. 6. Ten of the 13 have pleaded guilty.

Jones' decision to go on paid leave earlier this month came two days after prosecutors accused several officials of embezzling $1.5 million in union funds and filing false expense reports to conceal the wrongdoing.

Gamble has announced several measures aimed at preventing future instances of corruption within the UAW's leadership and has said he is "confident" the union's remaining board members did not commit any wrongdoing.

"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," Gamble said in the Wednesday statement.

Jones would be the first UAW president to be replaced mid-term since 1970, when Walter Reuther died in a plane crash, according to labor experts.

The Detroit News first reported in September that Jones and former UAW President Dennis Williams were among the unnamed officials cited in the charges filed against Pearson. Prosecutors said Pearson and other UAW leaders misused hundreds of thousands of dollars on leisurely vacations in California, golf clubs, lavish meals, cigars and $440 bottles of champagne.

The feds raided the home of Jones, Williams and other officials in August.

The union's board met in September following Jones' reported implication but did not take any action. Pearson was placed on leave in October.

'UAW Official A'

Documents filed by prosecutors charging various defendants include numerous incriminating details about a person identified only as “UAW Official A,” which sources have told the News is Jones.

In one case, they said Official A told a co-conspirator “in or about” late 2017 that they needed to “halt the cash embezzlement portion of the conspiracy because of the ongoing federal criminal investigation of the United Auto Workers union and because of a new UAW position being taken by UAW Official A.” The UAW's administrative caucus in November 2017 selected Jones as their choice for president. He ascended to the role in June 2018.

Prosecutors also said UAW Official A was in possession of more than $32,000 in cash at his personal residence on August 28. Jones’ home was raided that day, along with the homes of other UAW officials, and media reports quoted witnesses saying investigators were seen counting cash in Jones’ garage. 

Media-averse

Jones, a certified public accountant who lives in O’Fallon, Mo., near St. Louis, became a UAW member in 1975, when he was hired at a Ford Motor Co. glass plant in Oklahoma that has since closed. He joined the UAW International’s accounting department in 1990 and later became the union's chief accountant.

Jones was chosen as director of UAW Region 5, headquartered in Hazelwood, Mo., during a special election in October 2012 and was re-elected in June 2014.

After succeeding Dennis Williams as president, Jones typically shunned media, discontinuing the quarterly press conferences Williams instituted.

At the union's special bargaining convention in March, he read a short, prepared statement to reporters before leaving a spokesman to answer questions. 

As the corruption probe intensified, he further withdrew from the public spotlight. The Labor Day parade in Detroit during a UAW contract year is typically marked by a speech from the president. Jones, however, marched only half of the route before turning away without speaking to media or his membership.

During this year's contract negotiations, he opted to send the union’s spokesman to meet with the media and did not appear at press conferences announcing the strike against General Motors and tentative agreements with GM and Ford. During the GM strike, he was not publicly spotted at the picket lines. When politicians and presidential candidates visited to take photos with workers, the union sent regional directors instead.

Michael Martinez contributed to this report.