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Union Financial Disclosure
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New Form and Regulations Improve Labor Union Financial Transparency
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May 12, 2008
Union Political Money Black Hole
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On May 12, 2008 the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of
Labor-Management (OLMS) released for public comment new regulations for
labor union financial disclosure reports Form LM-2. The public comment
period closed on July 11, 2008. The proposed new LM-2 Form and Regulations were published in the Federal Register on May 12, 2008. Those wishing to view them may visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-10151.pdf (A word of warning, this is a 103 page pdf document and is written in governmentese.) These new regulations are part of an ongoing effort by OLMS to fulfill its obligations under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA). The new Form LM-2 and regulations close several of the loopholes from the previous round of reforms. They require that unions specify the costs of benefits being provided to officers and employees. Under the present system the cost of benefits is only reported as one big lump sum. The new regulations will allow union members to see how much they are paying in benefits for each officer and employee. This will discourage union officials from attempting to hide the cost of excessively generous benefits. They also require that unions provide the identity of those to whom they sell assets. This will allow union members to spot transactions where union officials are buying union assets at big discounts. And, they require unions to report travel and entertainment expenses for union officers and employees that are paid "indirectly" by the union. This will allow union members to get a much more accurate idea of how much the union is spending on this sort of thing and discourage union officers and employees from attempting to hide the cost of "business" meetings in luxurious resorts. There is little doubt that union officers and employees will oppose these reforms every step of the way, as they have with previous reforms. It is important that union members, public officials and members of the general public who understand the importance of labor union financial transparency as a deterrent to corruption provide comments supporting the reforms. There are several methods of commenting on the reforms. Comments can be posted by going to http://www.regulations.gov and entering "Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports" in the search box for "Comment or Submission."
The Public Service Research Foundation, as part of its public interest outreach, provided preformatted comments supporting the regulations. |