Having grown up in Michigan in the years which almost exactly coincide with Walter Reuther’s presidency of the United Auto Workers (1946-1970), it is shocking to read in the Detroit News how federal agents conducted searches last week in four states of homes and offices of eight individuals linked to the United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler. These raids are said to be part of a “four-year investigation into bribes, kickbacks and attempts to by auto executives to influence labor negotiations.”

The News further reports that the raids increase the possibility that “the federal government could assume oversight of the union under anti-racketeering statutes.” This would be similar to the federal supervision the Teamsters Union has been under since the 1980s.