Dennis D. Williams (born May 1953) is a former American labor union leader, who was convicted of embezzlement.

Union leader

Williams grew up with a foster family, and served in the United States Marines. After being demobbed, he became a welder with J.I. Case in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Rock Island Arsenal, Arsenal Island. The popul ...

, and in 1977 he joined the

United Auto Workers The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico ...

(UAW) union. In 1988, he began working full-time for the union's organizing department. He became a regional director in 2001, based in

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, during which time he was the first UAW leader to endorse

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's presidential bid. In 2010, Williams was elected as secretary-treasurer of the UAW. In this role, he was prominent in negotiating contracts with carmakers in Detroit, and was credited with securing an increase in membership dues, improving the union's finances. He was elected as the union's president in 2014, proposing focusing on the national income gap, negotiations with employers, and the

2016 United States presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...

. He was also elected as a vice president of the AFL-CIO, and chaired the federation's Industrial Union Council.

Embezzlement conviction

Williams promised to serve only a single four-year term as leader of the UAW, and he retired as planned in 2018. By that time, allegations of financial corruption in the union had emerged. Williams insisted that he knew nothing about many of the cases, but in September 2020 he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to embezzle union funds. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison, was fined $10,000, and ordered to repay $132,000 to the UAW.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Dennis 1953 births American trade union leaders American trade union officials convicted of crimes Trade unionists from Illinois United Auto Workers people Vice presidents of the AFL–CIO Living people