U.S. Department of Labor
Employment Standards Administration
Office of Labor-Management Standards
Seattle District Office
1111 Third Avenue
Room 605
Seattle, WA 98101
(206)398-8099 Fax: (206)398-8090

June 11, 2007

Dr. Nancy Friday, Secretary-Treasurer
IFPTE Local 8A
PO Box 15177
Seattle, WA 98115

LM File Number: 502-307

Re: Case Number

Dear Dr. Friday:

This office has recently completed an Audit of IFPTE Local 8A under the Compliance Audit Program (CAP) to determine your organization's compliance with the provisions Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA), 5 U.S.C. 7120, and the Department's regulations, 29 CFR 458. As discussed during the exit interview with you on May 31, 2007, the following problems were disclosed during the CAP. The matters listed below n exhaustive list of all possible problem areas since the audit conducted was in scope.

Recording Violations

Title II of the LMRDA establishes certain reporting and recordkeeping requirements. Section 206 of the LMRDA and Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) 403.7 require, among other things, that labor organizations maintain adequate for at least five years after reports are filed by which the information on the reports can be verified, explained and clarified. Pursuant to 29 C.F.R. Section 458.3, this recordkeeping provision of the LMRDA applies to labor organizations subject to the requirements of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA) as well. Therefore, as a rule, labor organization must retain all records used or received in the course of union business.

For disbursements, this includes not only original bills, invoices, receipts, vouchers, and applicable resolutions, but also documentation showing the nature of the union requiring the disbursement, the goods or services received, and the identity of recipient(s) of the goods or services. In most instances, this documentation requirement can be satisfied with a sufficiently descriptive expense receipt or invoice. If an expense receipt is not sufficiently descriptive, a union officer or employee should write a note on it providing the additional information. For money it receives, the labor organization must keep at least one record showing the date, amount, purpose, and source of that money. The labor organization must also retain bank records for all accounts.

The audit of Local 8A's 2006 records revealed the following recordkeeping violation:

General Reimbursed Expenses

Local 8A did not retain adequate documentation for reimbursed expenses incurred by union employees totaling $234.72. For example, the $185.72 newsletter printing expense at Kinko's and the $49.00 printing expense reimbursed to a trustee were not documented with receipts.

As previously noted above, labor organizations must retain original receipts, bills, vouchers for all disbursements. The president and treasurer of your union, are required to sign your union's LM report, are responsible for properly maintaining union records.

Based on your assurance that Local 8A will retain adequate documentation in the future, OLMS will take no further enforcement action at this time regarding the above violation.

Reporting Violations

Pursuant to 29 C.F.R., Section 458.3, the reporting requirement under 29 C.F.R. Section 403.2 (see Section 201(b) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act LMRDA)) is made applicable to labor organizations subject to the requirements of this provision requires labor organizations to file annual financial reports that accurately disclose their financial condition and operations. The audit disclosed a violation of this requirement. The Labor Organization Annual Report (Form LM-3) Local 8A for fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, was deficient in the following areas:

Disbursements to Officers

Local 8A did not report the names of some officers and the total amounts of payments to them or on their behalf in Item 24 (All Officers and Disbursements to Officers). The union must report in Item 24 all persons who held office during the year regardless of whether they received any payments from the union. "Officer" is defined in section 3(n) of the LMRDA (29 U.S.C. 402) as "any constitutional officer, any person authorized to perform the functions of president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, or other executive functions of a labor organization, and any member of its executive board or similar governing body."

The union must report most direct disbursements to Local 8A officers and some indirect disbursements made on behalf of its officers in Item 24. A "direct disbursement" to an officer is a payment made to an officer in the form of cash, property, goods, services, or other things of value. See the instructions for Item 24 for item 24 for a discussion of certain direct disbursements to officers that do not have to be re i1orted in Item 24. An "indirect disbursement" to an officer is a payment to another party (including a credit card company) for cash, property, goods, services, or il4her things of value received by or on behalf of an officer. However, indirect disbursements for temporary lodging (such as a union check issued to a hotel) or for transportation by a public carrier (such as an airline) for an officer traveling on u on business should be reported in Item 48 (Office and Administrative Expense).

We are not requiring that Local 8A file an amended LM report for year 2006 to correct the deficient items, but Local 8A has agreed to properly report the deficient items on all future reports it files with OLMS.

We would like to extend our personal appreciation to IFPTE Local 8A for the cooperation and courtesy extended during this compliance audit. We strongly recommend that you make sure this letter and the compliance assistance materials provided to you are passed on to future officers. If we can provide any additional assistance, please do not hesitate to call.

Sincerely,
Supervisory Investigator

cc: Dr. William Lehr, President