In January 2021, the United Auto Workers entered into a consent decree issued upon them by the U.S. Justice Department following lawsuits that resulted in multiple union officials sent to prison for embezzlement and corruption. This consent decree is ordered to last no more than six years, but it follows another consent decree on the International Brotherhood of Teamsters which recently ended in 2015 after 25 years of oversight and cost the union over $170 million during that time. Using these developments as a preface for our conversation, this event aims to compare the situations of the two unions. This event also aims to broadly address if and when government intervention can sustain democracy within a labor union; at what point does intervention become excessive; and what are the values of having democratic, autonomous unions, especially to promote leadership opportunities for members of color.