March 22, 2010
LM File No. 034-038
Meg Niemi, President
Service Employees international Union Local 49
3536 SE 26th Avenue
Portland, OR 97202-2901
Dear Ms. Niemi:
This is in response to your continuing hardship exemption request for Service Employees International Union Local 49, LM File No. 034-038, for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2009. Your request dated February 25, 2010 was received by the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) on March 3, 2009. A continuing hardship exemption request requires the requesting union to demonstrate that it cannot file Form LM-2 electronically without undue burden or expense.
Your request for a continuing hardship exemption was based upon the following information stated in your letter:
On October 30, 2009 your organization’s office was heavily damaged by fire. The building has been closed for repairs and operations were moved to a temporary location on December 7, 2009. Your organization is continuing to assess damages caused by the fire and has not yet been able to close the books for your last fiscal year. Your accounting specialist has been assigned other duties maintaining day-to-day operations and has not had time to prepare the information needed to complete the year-end accounting and audit. You are requesting an extension to file your organization’s Form LM-2 for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2009 until May 31, 2010.
OLMS grants your continuing hardship exemption request for filing Form LM-2 electronically for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2009, until May 31, 2010, based on the information that you have provided. You must therefore submit a paper Form LM-2 to OLMS by March 31, 2010. A continuing hardship exemption does not grant an extension of time for filing the required report. Rather, it only grants an extension for filing electronically. The paper report must be filed within 90 days after the end of the union’s fiscal year.
If you have any further questions, please call 202-693-0123 and reference your organization’s LM file number.
Sincerely,
Andrew R. Davis, Chief
Division of Interpretations
and Standards
cc: Larry King, Chief, Division of Reports, Disclosure & Audits