Republicans call for Congressional hearing on UAW corruption on day 4 of GM strike

DETROIT - As UAW members strike against General Motors, Republican lawmakers in Washington are calling for a Congressional hearing to look into corruption among leadership of the union.

Republican leaders, including Congressman Paul Mitchell are calling for a Congressional investigation into union president Gary Jones. But union members say he's the key to getting a deal worked out with GM.

Day 4 of UAW strike ends with calls from Republicans for congressional hearing

The UAW strike is now heading into day 5 as some Republican leaders in Congress call for a hearing into allegations of corruption in union leadership.

"There's two sides to every story," said UAW member Kellan Pyszk. "It's a distraction for everybody, it's on both sides. It's a distraction for GM because you've got a figure you're dealing with somebody who's accused of things and it's a distraction for the union because of his guilty or not, they have to deal with it."

Even though they're calling for an investigation, Mitchell isn't holding his breath that the Democrat-controlled Congress will take any action.

"If you want to bet on this, I'm gonna take the side that says no, there's no way they're going to do that," If you find someone that wants to take the other side of that, let me know," said Mitchell.

While Metro Detroit GM dealers have enough inventory, for now, the threats of Congress investigating are looming large.

But now with threats that Congress will investigate the UAW -some local businesses are cautious. Matthews Hargreaves Chevrolet in Royal Oak- has enough inventory- for now.

"I can go for four months. I can go for 120 days," said Walt Tutak, General manager of Matthews Hargreaves. "The last strike lasted two days, I think. This is the first time the GM has had a strike, I think, in 12 years so hopefully they' resolve it soon and we can get on with our business."

And it's not just GM business that's hurting. Malone's Tavern is just north of the GM Tech Center in Warren and is usually trafficked by GM employees.

"(The) majority of our customers are GM customers and they come in of table of 6 to 8 so major clientelle will decline," said employee Tyler Morrow. "I'm not gonna make enough money."

As for the latest on discussions, a top UAW official says they've made progress, even if there are still many unresolved issues.

UAW Vice President Terry Dittes said in a letter to workers the strike is for the right reasons: to win job security, get a bigger share of GM's profits and to give temporary workers a path to permanent jobs.

He says bargaining will continue into the weekend and beyond if no agreement is reached.

GM spokesman Dan Flores says talks are continuing. He declined further comment.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.