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A Republican effort to shackle unions with overly stringent accounting requirements failed in the U.S. Senate last week on a 55-43 vote.

The legislation's sponsor, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said the bill would have held unions to the standards proposed for corporations under the accounting industry legislation passed by the Senate on Monday. But nothing in the proposed legislation would have mandated corporations meet the even tougher reporting requirements unions have been held to since the Landrum-Griffin Act was passed in 1959.

Under the Landrum-Griffin Act, unions must meet stringent public disclosure requirements, submitting exhaustive details on assets and salaries as well as operations and government. Its provisions are regulated by the U.S Labor Department, headed by McConnell's wife, Elaine Chao. "The Labor Department has enormous authority over labor organizations, make no mistake about it," said Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Maryland).

"Corporate misconduct has cost U.S. workers millions of dollars," said IBEW President Ed Hill. "Senator McConnell is clearly attempting to muddy the waters for his corporate allies."

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Read the Landrum-Griffin Act