Deadline Approaches for Greater Transparency and Disclosure for Union Trusts

The January 1, 2009, compliance deadline is fast approaching for new U.S. Department of Labor union transparency regulations, reports Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, TX). Final rulings, which were passed in late September of this year, require all labor unions with $250,000 or more in annual receipts to file Trust Annual Reports (Form T-1). The ruling intends to bring greater transparency and disclosure to labor union members.

Transparency regulations will have a significant impact for employees in the industrial marketplace. In one study that tracks 34,766 operational U.S. plants, 8,290 (23.8 percent) include union-member employees. Energy production boasts the highest union involvement, with 59 percent of power facilities and 23 percent of facilities relating to petroleum refining employing union members.

Authority for the law falls under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, which was created to ensure basic standards of democracy, as well as to protect union members through access to finance and expenditure information. Administration and enforcement of the law will be handled by the Office of Labor Management Standards. According to Don Todd, assistant secretary for labor management programs, "This final rule builds on the administration's commitment to transparency and accountability for corporations, pension funds and labor unions. Union members expect access to relevant and useful information in order to make fundamental investment, career and retirement decisions, evaluate options and exercise legally guaranteed rights." Proponents for the ruling feel it will deter misuse of union trusts.

Historically, union trusts assist members with various benefits. Regular examples include labor union and employer joint funds, credit union accounts, strike funds, and training and apprentice programs. Annual financial disclosure will include assets, liabilities, receipts and disbursements for trusts in which the union maintains managerial control or financial dominance.