Labor Department to Strengthen Union Conflict-of-Interest Disclosure

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) will publish in Monday's Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to update the Form LM-30, required by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA). The LM-30 disclosure form must be used by labor union officers and employees to report potential financial conflicts of interest.

Over a four-month period ending August 15, OLMS extended a grace period for union officers and employees to comply with the statutory LM-30 filing requirements and, in collaboration with the AFL-CIO and other unions, provided extensive compliance assistance on what financial activities and transactions are reportable. During the 120-day grace period, OLMS received more than 10,000 LM-30 submissions from union officers and employees, compared to just 60 to 90 LM-30s filed on an annual basis in past years.

Our cooperative compliance program and the proposed changes to the Form LM-30 will enhance union financial integrity for the benefit of union members, and will clarify the form for officers and employees to help them comply with the law, said Victoria A. Lipnic, assistant secretary for employment standards. By ensuring better disclosure of possible conflicts of interest, we are improving transparency and reducing the potential for financial misconduct.

OLMS has participated in a number of successful investigations of criminal misconduct that could have been deterred or detected earlier by a more systematic disclosure of union officers' and employees' financial activities that present potential conflicts of interest with their official duties. The proposed changes to the Form LM-30 would simplify the filing requirements and close loopholes in the current form, by:

• explaining key terms used in the statute and providing examples of financial matters that must be reported;
• eliminating exemptions that allow filers to exclude certain financial matters that would otherwise be part of LMRDA reporting requirements and could present potential conflicts of interests for union officers and employees, and
• making the report clearer for union members to review by adding a summary table on the front page of the report and supporting schedules.

The department invites comment on the proposed rule with respect to the benefit of these changes and ease or difficulty for union officers and employees to comply with them. Comments must be received on or before Oct. 28 and should be identified by RIN 1215-AB49. They may be submitted through the federal eRulemaking portal at OLMS-REG-1215-AB49@dol.gov; fax to (202) 693-1340, or by mail to Kay H. Oshel, Director of the Office of Policy, Reports and Disclosure, Office of Labor-Management Standards, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Room N-5605, Washington, DC 20210.

For information on commenting, please contact: Kay H. Oshel at the above address; olms-public@dol.gov, or (202) 693-1233 (not a toll-free number). Individuals with hearing impairments may call 1-800-877-8339 (TTY/TDD).

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.