U.S. Department of Labor
Office of Labor-Management Standards
San Francisco District Office
90 7th Street
Suite 18-100
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 625-2661 Fax:(415) 625-2662
June 8, 2010
Mr. Terry Bowen, President
United Electrical Workers Local 99
3807 Pasadena Ave. #170
Sacramento, CA 95821
LM File Number: 059-847
Case Number: ||||||||||
Dear Mr. Bowen:
This office has recently completed an audit of United Electrical Workers Local 99 under the Compliance Audit Program (CAP) to determine your organization’s compliance with the provisions of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA). As discussed during the exit interview with you and Consultant Andrea Sweezy on April 29, 2010, the following problems were disclosed during the CAP. The matters listed below are not an exhaustive list of all possible problem areas since the audit conducted was limited in scope.
Recordkeeping Violations
Title II of the LMRDA establishes certain reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Section 206 requires, among other things, that labor organizations maintain adequate
records for at least five years by which each receipt and disbursement of funds, as well
as all account balances, can be verified, explained, and clarified. As a general rule, labor
organizations must maintain 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
business requiring the disbursement, the goods or services received, and the identity of
the 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 99’s 2008 records revealed the following recordkeeping violation:
Meal Expenses
Local 99 did not require officers and employees to submit itemized receipts for
meal expenses totaling at least $200. The union must maintain itemized receipts
provided by restaurants to officers and employees. These itemized receipts are
necessary to determine if such disbursements are for union business purposes and
to sufficiently fulfill the recordkeeping requirement of LMRDA Section 206.
Local 99 records of meal expenses did not always include written explanations of
union business conducted or the names and titles of the persons incurring the
restaurant charges. For example, President Bowen stated that some meal receipts
were for contract negotiations, but neither the purpose nor the names of those
present were recorded. Union records of meal expenses must include written
explanations of the union business conducted and the full names and titles of all
persons who incurred the restaurant charges. Also, the records retained must
identify the names of the restaurants where the officers or employees incurred
meal expenses.
Based on your assurance that Local 99 will retain adequate documentation in the future,
OLMS will take no further enforcement action at this time regarding the above
violations.
Reporting Violations
The audit disclosed a violation of LMRDA Section 201(b), which requires labor
organizations to file annual financial reports accurately disclosing their financial
condition and operations. The Labor Organization Annual Report (LM-3) filed by Local
99 for fiscal year ending December 31, 2008, was deficient in that Local 99 did not report
the total payments to officers or on their behalf in Item 24 (All Officers and
Disbursements to Officers).
The union must report most direct disbursements to Local 99 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 a discussion of certain direct
disbursements to officers that do not have to be reported 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 other 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 union business should be reported in Item 48 (Office
and Administrative Expense). Gas for personal vehicles charged on the union’s credit
card, which totaled nearly $5000 in 2008, is reportable as an other disbursement to
officers in Column E of Item 24 on the LM-3 report.
I am not requiring that Local 99 file an amended LM report for 2008 to correct the
deficient items, but Local 99 has agreed to properly report the deficient items on all
future reports it files with OLMS.
I want to extend my personal appreciation to United Electrical Workers Local 99 for the
cooperation and courtesy extended during this compliance audit. I 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,
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Investigator
cc: Mr. Bruce Burke, Secretary-Treasurer