More than a week ago, the UAW Monitor imposed disciplinary actions against Raymond Jensen, Jr., the UAW International “organizer” who posted an AI-generated image of me—bound and gagged, blood dripping from my mouth, with a masked gunman pointing a rifle at my back. Having found that Jensen violated federal election rules prohibiting threats and intimidation, the Monitor suspended him from the UAW for two years, permanently barred him from running for any elected union position, and banned him from campaigning for any candidate in this election.
UAW members welcomed these measures and assumed that Jensen would be fired from his $202,000-a-year position. But when my legal team asked the Monitor’s office to verify that he had been removed from his post, we were told that while Jensen is suspended from the UAW, it would be up to the union apparatus to determine whether or not he will still be paid by the UAW. My legal team immediately challenged this position, and the Monitor’s office said it would look into the matter. That was last week. We are still waiting for an answer.
In the meantime, Jensen—who admitted he posted what any worker would consider a criminal threat—may be continuing to collect his massive salary during his two-year suspension. Since he has been removed from UAW membership, he might not even have dues taken out of his paycheck, resulting in a pay increase.
From the beginning, I said this thuggish behavior was not aimed at me alone. It was aimed at every UAW member who speaks out against the backroom deals and treachery of the apparatus. The image was meant as a warning: this is what happens to you if you vote down a contract, if you speak up at a meeting, if you challenge the bureaucracy in your own local.
But we were not intimidated. Instead, my campaign rallied the support of UAW members in Detroit and around the country, workers in other industries, and workers and young people in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Türkiye, Australia, and New Zealand, who demanded action against Jensen. This is what forced the Monitor to act.
After Jensen was caught, Fain issued an internal memo telling the International Executive Board and other UAW personnel that “comments and social media posts of a threatening nature have no place in our union.” According to Fain, however, the gangsters who issue such threats have a home—and a big salary—at Solidarity House.
I call on workers to demand that the Monitor remove Jensen from his post and cut off his salary. Otherwise, the UAW bureaucracy will see this as a green light to attack not only opposing candidates but the rank and file.
Workers cannot rely on the Monitor to protect our rights. We must achieve this ourselves. That means building rank-and-file committees in every plant to abolish this apparatus altogether and replace it with genuine rank-and-file democracy.
