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The U.S. Labors Department insistence on bogging down unions with cumbersome paperwork hit a snag on New Years Eve, with a federal judge ruling that the requirement would cause "irreparable harm." The judge issued an injunction delaying the new regulation by one year, saying current regulations, which have been in force for more than 30 years, will continue to suffice.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said Labor Secretary Elaine Chao "has simply failed to offer any reasonable justification for requiring such far-reaching changes to take place in a period of seven weeks."

The regulations require unions to collect massive amounts of minute information at considerable expense. They are expected to burden more than 5,000 labor organizations with these tasks, leaving less time for contract negotiations, grievance handling, organizing and other core union activities.

Many members of Congress agreed that the rules were punitive and did little to assure accurate disclosure. Even 30 Republican House members, in addition to Democrats, had urged the Labor Department to make the new reporting requirements less burdensome.