U.S. Department of Labor Rejects Bush Administration LM-2 Union Reporting Changes

In a generally anticipated move, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) will publish a rule tomorrow rescinding the Bush administration’s most recent changes to the LM-2 union report filed under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). This development confirms the Obama administration’s interest in reducing the administrative burden on unions, and may signal the beginning of a focus shift to certain aspects of employer reporting under the LMRDA. In particular, many believe that OLMS will soon enhance scrutiny on employer and consultant reporting of so-called “persuader” activity.

The LM-2 requires unions to annually disclose a wide variety of information to OLMS concerning revenues, expenses, and membership. In 2003, one of the Bush administration’s first major initiatives concerning union reporting obligations focused on improving union transparency through enhanced LM-2 reporting requirements. A revised LM-2 report created additional accounting and recordkeeping requirements for unions, and required itemization of every individual disbursement of $5,000 or more. Some union LM-2 forms expanded by dozens, if not hundreds, of pages as a result of the revision. Shortly thereafter, OLMS enhanced enforcement of both union official LM-30 and employer LM-10 reporting requirements. Many employers found themselves filing annual LM-10 reports for the first time in 2005, notwithstanding the fact that the LMRDA’s reporting requirements had existed virtually unchanged for more than 50 years.

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