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 February 28, 2003 While the Bush administration dilutes corporate accountability standards for corporations, its Labor Department is attempting to impose onerous new requirements on unions. Unions, which are already mandated to compile information and file extensive reports, will be forced to spend millions of dollars in member-paid dues to comply with the new LM-2 rule, which could cost an estimated $1 billion per year. Even under current rules, unions still have to disclose far more information than corporations. This disparity will increase multifold under the new rules. "This is not about rooting out the isolated cases of corruption in the labor movement or protecting rank and file workers," said IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill, in the March issue of the IBEW Journal [add link]. "The presidents real goal is to force you to spend some one billion more of your dues money on additional union administration and less on activism, to tie up your international and local unions with needless red tape so that you will not be represented as effectively, and ultimately, to silence your voice in the workplace and the public arena." Hill said the reporting requirement is another effort to strengthen the economic power of corporations and to weaken the effectiveness and the rights of union members. The rules would apply to large and small unions alike, and would present an unusual burden for smaller locals that often rely on part-time and voluntary staff. Unions already disclose their budgets, staff salaries, loans and expenses, keeping track of their finances according to standard accounting practice. The new rules would force unions to purchase costly electronic record-keeping systems just to complete the reports. And these new rules are not the result of a groundswell of grassroots action by union members. They are being pushed by right-wing, anti-labor groups like the Right-to-Work Committee, as part of their strategy to weaken unions. President Hill said the IBEW is using legal and legislative resources to beat back the proposed regulations. "We will work though the process and do all in our power to prevent this massive theft of your money," he said. "But the time has come for the IBEW and all of organized labor to do more." Unfortunately, the spirit of these rules is not new. The reporting requirements were first proposed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and denounced by his own assistant secretary of labor, Robert Guttman. Contact the Office of Employment Standards at the Department of Labor and tell them to stop this new rule from being implemented. Click here for more information from the Congressional Action Center.
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