Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports: LM Form Revisions
| Citation | 85 FR 64726 |
| Record Number | 2020-21685 |
| Published date | 13 October 2020 |
| Court | Labor Department,Labor-management Standards Office |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 198 (Tuesday, October 13, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 198 (Tuesday, October 13, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64726-64906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21685]
[[Page 64725]]
Vol. 85
Tuesday,
No. 198
October 13, 2020
Part IV Department of Labor----------------------------------------------------------------------- Office of Labor-Management Standards-----------------------------------------------------------------------29 CFR Parts 402, 403 and 408Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports: LM Form Revisions;
Proposed Rule
Federal Register / Vol. 85 , No. 198 / Tuesday, October 13, 2020 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 64726]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of Labor-Management Standards
29 CFR Parts 402, 403, and 408
RIN 1245-AA10
Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports: LM Form Revisions
AGENCY: Office of Labor-Management Standards, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Proposed rule and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department) proposes to promulgate a
rule that updates and revises our regulations in order to improve the
Form LM-2 and establish a Form LM-2 Long Form (LF), in the interest of
labor organization financial integrity and transparency. The proposed
rule would apply prospectively.
DATES: Submit written comments on or before December 14, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 1245-AA10, only
electronically, through the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. To locate the proposed rule, use key words such as
``Labor-Management Standards'' or ``Labor Organization Annual Financial
Reports.''. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Please be
advised that comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. All
comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on the date indicated for
consideration in this rulemaking.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Davis, Chief of the Division of
Interpretations and Standards, Office of Labor-Management Standards,
U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5609,
Washington, DC 20210, (202) 693-0123 (this is not a toll-free number),
(800) 877-8339 (TTY/TDD).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Statutory Authority
The Department's statutory authority is set forth in sections 201
and 208 of the Labor- Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959,
as amended (LMRDA or Act), 29 U.S.C. 431, 438. Section 208 of the LMRDA
provides that the Secretary of Labor shall have authority to issue,
amend, and rescind rules and regulations prescribing the form and
publication of reports required to be filed under Title II of the Act
and such other reasonable rules and regulations as he may find
necessary to prevent the circumvention or evasion of the reporting
requirements. 29 U.S.C. 438. Section 201, discussed in more detail
below, sets out the substantive reporting obligations.
The Secretary has delegated his authority under the LMRDA to the
Director of the Office of Labor-Management Standards and permitted
redelegation of such authority. See Secretary's Order 03-2012 (Oct. 19,
2012), published at 77 FR 69376 (Nov. 16, 2012).
II. Background
A. Introduction
The Department proposes to introduce a new Form LM-2 Long Form
(Form LM-2 LF), and update and revise Form LM-2 labor organization
annual financial disclosure report to provide additional valuable
information to union members, the Department, and the public. This
proposal is part of the Department's continuing effort to better
effectuate the reporting requirements of the LMRDA. The LMRDA's various
reporting provisions are designed to empower labor organization members
by providing them the means to maintain democratic control over their
labor organizations and ensure a proper accounting of labor
organization funds. Labor organization members are better able to
monitor their labor organization's financial affairs and to make
informed choices about the leadership of their labor organization and
its direction when labor organizations provide financial information
required by the LMRDA in an easily accessible way. By reviewing the
reports, a member may ascertain the labor organization's priorities and
whether they are in accord with the union's constitution and purposes,
the member's own priorities, and those of fellow members. At the same
time, this transparency promotes the labor organization's own interests
as a democratic institution as well as the interests of the public and
the government. Furthermore, the LMRDA's reporting and disclosure
provisions, together with the fiduciary duty provision, 29 U.S.C. 501,
which directly regulates the primary conduct of labor organization
officials, operate to safeguard a labor organization's funds from
depletion by improper or illegal means. Timely and complete reporting
also helps deter labor organization officers or employees from
embezzling or otherwise making improper use of such funds.
B. Statutory Background
In 1959, Congress found that ``in the labor and management fields *
* * there have been a number of instances of breach of trust,
corruption, disregard of the rights of individual employees, and other
failures to observe high standards of responsibility and ethical
conduct which require further and supplementary legislation that will
afford necessary protection of the rights and interests of employees
and the public generally as they relate to the activities of labor
organizations, employers, labor relations consultants, and their
officers and representatives.'' 29 U.S.C. 401(b). The LMRDA was
designed to remedy these various ills through a set of integrated
provisions aimed largely at labor organization governance and
management. These include a ``bill of rights'' for labor organization
members, which provides for equal voting rights, freedom of speech and
assembly, and other basic safeguards for labor organization democracy,
see 29 U.S.C. 411-415; financial reporting and disclosure requirements
for labor organizations, their officers and employees, employers, labor
relations consultants, and surety companies, see 29 U.S.C. 431-436,
441; detailed procedural, substantive, and reporting requirements
relating to labor organization trusteeships, see 29 U.S.C. 461-466;
detailed procedural requirements for the conduct of elections of labor
organization officers, see 29 U.S.C. 481-483; safeguards for labor
organizations, including bonding requirements, the establishment of
fiduciary responsibilities for labor organization officials and other
representatives, criminal penalties for embezzlement from a labor
organization, a prohibition on certain loans by a labor organization to
officers or employees, prohibitions on individuals convicted of certain
crimes from holding union office or employment or serving in other
prohibited capacities, and prohibitions on payments for prohibited
purposes by an employer or labor relations consultant to employees,
labor organizations, and labor organization officers and employees, see
29 U.S.C. 501-505; and prohibitions against extortionate picketing,
retaliation for exercising protected rights, and deprivation of LMRDA
rights by violence, see 29 U.S.C. 522, 529, 530. The LMRDA was a
bipartisan bill. It originally passed the Senate 90-1 on April 25,
1959. The conference report, which set forth the version of the bill
negotiated between the House and Senate, passed the Senate 95-2 on
[[Page 64727]]
September 3, 1959. The bill passed the House 352-52 on September 4,
1959.
The LMRDA was the direct outgrowth of a congressional investigation
conducted by the Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor
or Management Field, commonly known as the McClellan Committee, chaired
by Senator John McClellan of Arkansas. Senators John F. Kennedy, Sam
Ervin, Karl Mundt, Patrick McNamara, Carl Curtis, Irving Ives, and
Barry Goldwater also sat on the committee. Future U.S. Attorney General
Robert Kennedy served as Chief Counsel and led Senator McClellan's
staff. In 1957, the committee began a highly publicized investigation
of labor organization racketeering and corruption. Its findings of
financial abuse, mismanagement of labor organization funds, and
unethical conduct provided much of the impetus for the bipartisan
enactment of the LMRDA's remedial provisions. The committee heard from
1,526 witnesses over 270 days of hearings, creating a record of over
twenty thousand pages. See generally Benjamin Aaron, The Labor-
Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, 73 Harv. L. Rev. 851,
851-55 (1960); and R. Alton Lee, Eisenhower & Landrum-Griffin (1990).
During the investigation, the committee uncovered a host of improper
financial arrangements between officials of several international and
local labor organizations and employers (and labor consultants aligned
with the employers) whose employees were represented by the labor
organizations in question or might have been organized by them. Similar
arrangements were also found between labor organization officials and
the companies that handled matters relating to the administration of
labor organization benefit funds. See generally Interim Report of the
Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management
Field, S. Report No. 85-1417 (1957); see also William J. Isaacson,
Employee Welfare and Benefit Plans: Regulation and Protection of
Employee Rights, 59 Colum. L. Rev. 96 (1959).
Financial reporting and disclosure were conceived as a means of
combatting improper practices. As noted in a key Senate Report on the
legislation, disclosure would discourage questionable practices (``The
searchlight of publicity is a strong deterrent.''); aid labor
organization governance (labor organizations will be able ``to better
regulate their own affairs. The members may vote out of office any
individual whose personal financial interests conflict with his duties
to members.''); facilitate legal action by members against ``officers
who violate their duty of loyalty to the members;'' and create a record
(the reports will furnish a ``sound factual basis for further action in
the event that other legislation is required''). S. Rep. No. 187, at 16
(1959), reprinted in 1 NLRB Legislative History of the Labor-Management
Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, at 412.
As the House Report disclosed, ``It is the purpose of this bill to
insure that full information concerning the financial and internal
administrative practices and procedures of labor organizations shall
be, in the first instance available to the members of such
organizations. In addition, this information is to be made available to
the Government, and through the Secretary of Labor, is to be open to
inspection by the general public. By such disclosure, and by relying on
voluntary action by members of labor organizations, it is hoped that a
deterrent to abuses will be established.'' House Report No. 741 (86th
Cong., 1st Sess., 2 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, 1959, p. 2424).
C. Regulatory Background
The Department has developed forms for implementing the LMRDA's
financial reporting requirements. The annual reports required by
section 202(b) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. 432(b) (Form LM-2, Form LM-3, and
Form LM-4), contain information about a labor organization's assets,
liabilities, receipts, disbursements, loans to officers and employees
and business enterprises, payments to each officer, and payments to
each employee of the labor organization paid more than $10,000 during
the fiscal year. The reporting detail required of labor organizations,
as the Secretary has established by rule, varies depending on the
amount of the labor organization's annual receipts. 29 CFR 403.4.
Labor organizations with annual receipts of at least $250,000 and
all labor organizations in trusteeship (without regard to the amount of
their annual receipts) must file the Form LM-2. 29 CFR 403.2-403.4. The
Form LM-2 requires certain receipts and disbursements to be reported by
functional categories, such as representational activities; political
activities and lobbying; contributions, gifts, and grants; union
administration; and benefits. Further, the form requires labor
organizations to allocate the time their officers and employees spend
according to functional categories, as well as the payments that each
of these officers and employees receive, and it requires the
itemization of certain transactions totaling $5,000 or more. This form
must be electronically signed and filed with the Department. Form LM-2
is filed by approximately 22 percent of the reporting labor
organizations. If a labor organization has less than $250,000 in total
annual receipts, it will file either a Form LM-3 or Form LM-4, both of
which require significantly less detail than the Form LM-2. Form LM-3
is filed by approximately 45 percent of the reporting labor
organizations, i.e., those with less than $250,000 in total annual
receipts but $10,000 or more. Labor organizations with receipts of less
than $10,000 file the Form LM-4. They constitute 29 percent of the
filers. The remaining 5 percent are subject to an even more simplified
report, which is available to labor organizations with no assets,
liabilities, receipts, or disbursements. The reforms the Department now
proposes to make would affect only Form LM- 2 filers and thus only 22
percent of the reporting labor organization community.
The labor organization's president and treasurer (or its
corresponding officers) are personally responsible for filing the
reports and for any statement in the reports known by them to be false.
29 CFR 403.6. These officers are also responsible for maintaining
records in sufficient detail to verify, explain, or clarify the
accuracy and completeness of the reports for not less than five years
after the filing of the forms. 29 CFR 403.7. A labor organization
``shall make available to all its members the information required to
be contained in such reports'' and ``shall * * * permit such member[s]
for just cause to examine any books, records, and accounts necessary to
verify such report[s].'' 29 CFR 403.8(a).
The reports are public information. 29 U.S.C. 435(a). The Secretary
is charged with providing for the inspection and examination of the
financial reports, 29 U.S.C. 435(b). For this purpose, OLMS maintains
(1) a public disclosure room where copies of such reports may be
reviewed and (2) an online public disclosure site (https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/rrlo/lmrda.htm), where reports filed since the
year 2000 are available for the public's review.
On December 27, 2002, the Department issued a notice of proposed
rulemaking, 67 FR 79820, proposing revisions of the Form LM-2 (and
other proposals for reforms of reports), expanding LMRDA coverage, and
a newly created form.
On October 9, 2003, the Department issued a final rule, 68 FR
58373, with an effective date of January 4, 2004. The rule put into
effect the NPRM-proposed changes to the Form LM-2 with
[[Page 64728]]
modifications. The key changes put into place by the final rule were as
follows:
1. $5,000 Itemization Threshold: Form LM-2 filers itemize certain
categories of receipts and disbursements of $5,000 or more, as well as
receipts and disbursements to a single entity that total $5,000 or more
in the reporting year.
2. Confidentiality Exemption: Labor organizations (hereinafter also
referred to as ``labor unions'' or ``unions'') may take advantage of
special procedures for reporting confidential information, such as
information that would expose the reporting union's prospective
organizing strategy and information that would provide a tactical
advantage to parties with whom the union engages in contract
negotiations. Such information is not specifically reported or publicly
disclosed.
3. Functional Reporting: Disbursements are reported in five
specified categories (Representational Activities; Political Activities
and Lobbying; Contributions, Gifts and Grants; General Overhead; and
Union Administration).
4. Functional Reporting of Work Time: The Form LM-2 requires unions
to estimate the time spent by each union officer and union employee
(collectively, ``union officials'') on different duties, based on the
categories of activities represented by the Form LM-2 schedules and
represented as percentage of work time totaling 100 percent. Unions
then report the portion of gross salaries for each schedule based on
the percentage of time estimates.
5. Accounts Payable/Receivable: The Form LM-2 includes schedules
designed for reporting delinquent accounts payable and receivable (with
the typical Form LM-2 itemization threshold of $5,000).
6. Reporting of Investments: The Form LM-2 requires unions to
report all investments that both have a book value greater than $5,000
and represent five percent or more of the union's investments.
7. Membership Categories: The Form LM-2 requires unions to report
their number of members by aggregate categories. The union may
determine the categories. Common categories include active members,
retirees, full retirees, apprentices, etc.
Approximately four and a half years later, on May 12, 2008, the
Department issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, 73 FR 27345, to
further revise the Form LM-2 in a number of ways. A major piece
required an expanded number of schedules to itemize receipts further.
On January 21, 2009, the Department issued a final rule, 74 FR
3677, with an effective date of February 20, 2009. The rule was
ultimately rescinded before any reports were filed. The following were
the key changes in the 2009 rule:
1. Additional information on Schedules 3 and 4: Had it become
applicable, the rule would have required additional information on Form
LM-2 Schedule 3--Sales of Investments and Fixed Assets, and Schedule
4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets, disclosing the party
buying or selling union assets.
2. Additional information on Schedules 11 and 12: The rule would
have required additional information on Form LM-2 Schedule 11--All
Officers and Disbursements to Officers, and Schedule 12--Disbursements
to Employees, disclosing the total value of the benefits received by
union officers and union employees (i.e., it would have required unions
to include the value of union officer/employee benefits in Schedules
11/12 rather than aggregated in a lump sum figure in Schedule 20).
3. Itemization of Receipts: The rule added itemization schedules
corresponding to additional categories of receipts.
On April 21, 2009, the Department issued a notice of proposed
rulemaking, 74 FR 18172, to rescind the Form LM-2 changes made by the
January 2009 final rule.
The NPRM expressed concern that the January 2009 final rule failed
to consider the utility of increased reporting and its attendant
burdens, which may have resulted in a reporting regime that lacked what
the NPRM stated was a required balance between the need for
transparency in union financial reporting and the need to protect
unions from excessive burdens attendant to such reporting. 74 FR 18173,
18175. The Department also stated that the January 2009 rule was not
informed by an adequate review of the Department's experience under the
``relatively recent'' revisions to Form LM-2 in 2003. Id.
On October 13, 2009, the Department issued a final rule, 74 FR
52401, which rescinded the Form LM-2 changes made by the January 2009
final rule. As to the perceived failure to adequately balance burden
with benefit, the Department concluded that the annual reports need not
disclose ``every bit of probative financial information,'' id. at 52406
(internal quotation marks omitted).
Second, the Department rescinded the January 2009 rule on the view
that it had promulgated the rule ``too soon after the 2003 changes''
and ``without an adequate review of the benefits and costs of the
changes.'' Id. The Department stated that ``a more comprehensive
review'' was needed to measure the benefits of the 2003 revisions
against their costs; the Department suggested as two potential options
``a survey of all Department investigators or a documented review of
the thousands of filings received by the Department under the 2003
rule.'' Id. at 52408.
III. Proposal
A. Introduction
The Department now proposes to introduce a new Form LM-2 Long Form
(LF) and modify the Form LM-2 for the purpose of providing additional
information to labor organization members, the Department, and the
public about the financial activities of labor organizations.
Today's labor organizations are more like modern corporations in
their structure, scope, and complexity than the labor organizations of
1959. The balance between wages/salaries paid to workers and their
``other compensation'' has changed significantly during this time. For
example, in 1966, more than 80 percent of total compensation consisted
of wages and salaries, with less than 20 percent representing benefits.
U.S. Department of Labor, Report on the American Workforce 76, 87
(2001).\1\ By 2019, wages had dropped to 70.1 percent of total
compensation and benefits had grown to 29.9 percent of the compensation
package. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Chart on
Total Benefits, available at https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?cu. Moreover, labor organization members today are better
educated, more empowered, and more familiar with financial data and
transactions than ever before. Labor organization members, no less than
consumers, citizens, or creditors, expect access to relevant and useful
information in order to make fundamental investment, career, and
retirement decisions, evaluate options, and exercise legally guaranteed
rights.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ In 2003, more than 71 percent of total compensation
consisted of wages and salaries, with less than 29 percent
representing benefits. See News Release on Employer Costs for
Employee Compensation December 2003, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_02262004.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The revisions to the Form LM-2 made by the Department in 2003 have
helped to fulfill the LMRDA's reporting mandate. However, based upon
the Department's experience since 2003 and after input from OLMS field
offices, the Department believes that further enhancements to the Form
LM-2 are necessary.
[[Page 64729]]
Union and management corruption remains a problem today. For
example, a recent investigation of auto industry corruption involving
the United Auto Workers International Union (UAW) in Detroit, Michigan
and a Detroit automaker produced multiple criminal convictions in the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.\2\
The joint investigations conducted by OLMS, the Department's Office of
Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the
Internal Revenue Service centered on a conspiracy involving Fiat
Chrysler executives bribing labor officials to influence labor
negotiations. Violations included conspiracy to violate the Labor
Management Relations Act for paying and delivering more than $1.5
million in prohibited payments and things of value to UAW officials,
receiving prohibited payments and things of value from others acting in
the interest of Fiat Chrysler, failing to report income on individual
tax returns, conspiring to defraud the United States by preparing and
filing false tax returns for the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center
that concealed millions of dollars in prohibited payments directed to
UAW officials, and deliberately providing misleading and incomplete
testimony in the federal grand jury.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ U.S. v. Durden, Case No.17-cr-20406, 2018 WL 6198288 (E.D.
Mich. Nov. 13, 2018), judgment amended 2020 WL 2151149 (E.D. Mich.
Mar. 25, 2020); U.S. v. Iacobelli, Case No. 17-cr-20406, 2018 WL
4567268 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 13, 2018); U.S. v. Morgan, Case No. 17-cr-
20406, 2018 WL 4567269 (E.D. Mich. July 19, 2018); U.S. v. King,
Case No.17-cr-20406, 2018 WL 10667957 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 21, 2018),
judgment amended 2019 WL 255638 (E.D. Mich. Jan. 2, 2019); U.S. v.
Mickens, Case No. 17-cr-20406, 2018 WL 6198290 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 13,
2018); U.S. v. Johnson, Case No. 17-cr-20406, 2018 WL 7075322 (E.D.
Mich. Dec. 28, 2018); U.S. v. Brown, Case No. 17-cr-20406, 2018 WL
6198289 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 13, 2018), judgment amended 2020 WL 1079963
(E.D. Mich. Jan. 8, 2020); U.S. v. Jewell, Case No.19-cr-20146, 2019
WL 4722945 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 7, 2019); U.S. v. Grimes, Case No. 19-
cr-20520, 2020 WL 1942424 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 24, 2020); U.S. v.
Pietrzyk, Case No. 19-cr-20630, 2019 WL 7667054 (E.D. Mich. Oct. 22,
2019); U.S. v. Ashton, Case No. 19-cr-20738, 2019 WL 7625626 (E.D.
Mich. Nov. 6, 2019); U.S. v. Robinson, Case No. 19-cr-20726, 2020 WL
2612988 (E.D. Mich. Mar. 2, 2020); U.S. v. Pearson, Case No. 19-cr-
20726, 2020 WL 2612990 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 7, 2020); U.S. v. Jones,
Case No. 19-cr-20726, 2020 WL 1910242 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 27, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
OLMS cases illustrate the link between reporting and disclosure and
criminal conduct. A strictly enforced reporting regime deters and
reveals legal violations and aids in the enforcement of the LMRDA's
civil and criminal penalties. For example, on February 12, 2020, in the
United States District Court for the Central District of California,
after a six-day trial, a jury found John S. Romero, former President of
United Industrial Services Worker of America (UISWA), located in
Colton, California, guilty of 1 count of conspiracy to commit theft or
embezzlement in connection with health care (18 U.S.C. 371), 12 counts
of theft or embezzlement of approximately $800,000 in connection with
health care (18 U.S.C. 669), and 1 count of filing a false LM financial
report with the Department, in which he failed to properly report more
than $100,000 in receipts and disbursements (18 U.S.C. 1001). Romero's
family members, who were co-defendants (son John J. Romero, former
UISWA Secretary-Treasurer; daughter Danae Romero, former UISWA Trustee;
and ex-wife Evelyn Romero, former UISWA President), had each previously
pleaded guilty to counts under the indictment and testified at trial on
behalf of the government. The guilty verdict followed an investigation
by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office, Department of Labor's Office
of Inspector General, and the Employee Benefits Security
Administration. https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/former-labor-union-president-convicted-conspiracy-embezzling-union-health-plan-funds.
On December 18, 2019, in the United States District Court for the
Southern District of West Virginia, Eric Childress, former Secretary-
Treasurer of Communications Workers of America Local 2276 (located in
Bluefield, West Virginia), pleaded guilty to one count of making a
false entry in a union record, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(c). The
guilty plea followed an investigation by the OLMS Philadelphia-
Pittsburgh District Office. https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/enforce_2019.htm.
On January 29, 2019, in the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania, John Dougherty, Business Manager of
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 (located in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), was charged in an indictment with 1 count
of conspiracy to embezzle from a labor union and employee benefits plan
(18 U.S.C. 371), 34 counts of embezzlement of union funds (29 U.S.C.
501(c)), 23 counts of wire fraud theft from the union (18 U.S.C. 1343),
2 counts of wire fraud theft from political action committee (18 U.S.C.
1343), 2 counts of filing a false LM report (29 U.S.C. 439(b)), 2
counts of falsifying union records (29 U.S.C. 439(c)), 5 counts of
filing false federal income tax returns (26 U.S.C. 7206(1)), 1 count of
conspiracy to accept unlawful payments from an employer (18 U.S.C.
371), 8 counts of accepting unlawful payments from an employer (29
U.S.C. 186(a)(2),(b)(1) & (d)(2)), 1 count of conspiracy to commit
honest services fraud and federal program bribery (18 U.S.C. 371), 11
counts of honest services wire fraud (18 U.S.C. 1343, 1346), and 1
count of honest services mail fraud (18 U.S.C. 1341, 1346). The charges
followed an investigation by the OLMS Philadelphia-Pittsburgh District
Office, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Department
of Labor's Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Pennsylvania State
Police, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/enforce_2019.htm.
On September 21, 2017, in the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois, Bobby Buford, former President of UAW
Local 2419 (located in Danville, Illinois), was sentenced to 21 months
of incarceration and 3 years of supervised release, and he was ordered
to pay restitution of $129,723 and a $100 special assessment. On
November 10, 2016, Buford pled guilty to one count of mail fraud, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341, for diverting over $129,723 in unions
funds for personal use. While he served as president of the union,
Buford made cash withdrawals and issued cashier's checks from the
accounts for his own personal benefit. Buford then covered up his
scheme by mailing false annual reports to the Department. The false
reports underreported the amount of dues and fees collected from union
members, inflated the balance of the union's accounts, and omitted his
personal withdrawals from the accounts. https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdil/pr/former-president-uaw-local-2419-danville-sentenced-prison-embezzling-union-funds' https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/enforce_2017.htm.
Those are just a handful of examples. The proposed enhancements, as
more fully described below, would also ensure that information is
reported in such a way as to meet the objectives of the LMRDA by
providing labor organization members with useful data that will enable
them to be responsible and effective participants in the democratic
governance of their labor organizations. The proposed changes are
designed to provide members of labor organizations with additional and
more detailed information about the financial activities of their labor
organization than is available through the current reporting.
These proposed revisions are consistent with the goals of the LMRDA
and its purposes as discussed above and
[[Page 64730]]
in connection with the Department's 2002 NPRM and 2003 Final Rule, as
well as the 2008 NPRM and 2009 Final Rule, which ultimately did not go
into effect but put forward similar revisions.\3\ This proposed rule is
considered to be an Executive Order (E.O.) 13771 regulatory action.
Details on the estimated costs of this final rule can be found in the
rule's economic analysis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ The Department has recently created a new form, the Form T-
1, for certain labor organization trusts as another means to combat
union and management corruption and to prevent circumvention or
evasion of the LMRDA reporting requirements. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-03-06/pdf/2020-03958.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The OLMS Electronic Forms System (EFS) makes it simpler to complete
LM reports than it was at the time of previous updates to the Form LM-
2. This web-based system enables labor organizations, their officials,
employers, and labor relations consultants to complete and submit LM
reports to OLMS. Currently, EFS can be used by filers of Forms LM-2,
LM-3, LM-4, LM- 10 Employer Report, LM-20 Agreement and Activities
Report, LM-21 Receipts and Disbursements Report, LM-30 Labor
Organization Officer and Employee Report, and Form T-1 Trust
Report.\4\\\ The filer accesses EFS to register for an EFS User ID and
password, obtain a union PIN, as well as edit account information or
retrieve existing passwords or User IDs. By accessing EFS, the filer
can also obtain, work on, or sign and submit an LM form. EFS allows
anyone with a web-enabled computer to complete, sign, and
electronically file a Form LM-2, LM-3, LM-4, LM-10, LM-20, LM-21, and
LM-30 without purchasing a digital signature or downloading special
software. EFS performs all calculations for the LM reports and
completes a form error check prior to submission. EFS also allows
unions that maintain electronic accounting records to import financial
data from their accounting programs directly into the Form LM-2 or LM-3
they are completing.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ As discussed, Forms LM-2, LM-3 and LM-4 are labor
organization annual financial disclosure forms. The Form LM-10
Employer Report requires employers to file annual reports to
disclose certain specified financial dealings with their employees,
unions, union agents, and labor relations consultants.
The Form LM-20 Agreement and Activities Report requires that
every person, including a labor relations consultant, who enters
into an arrangement with an employer under which he or she
undertakes activities where an object thereof is, directly or
indirectly, to persuade employees about exercising their rights to
organize and bargain collectively, or obtain information about the
activities of employees or a union in connection with a labor
dispute involving the employer (except information solely for
administrative, arbitral, or court proceedings) must file an
Agreement and Activities Report, Form LM-20.
Every person required to file a Form LM-20 also must file the
annual Receipts and Disbursements Report, Form LM-21, if any
payments were made or received during the fiscal year as a result of
arrangements of the kind requiring the Form LM-20.
Pursuant to the instructions for the Form LM-30 Union Officer
and Employee Report, labor organization officers or employees (other
than exclusively clerical or custodial employees) who have directly
or indirectly held any legal or equitable interest in, received any
payments from, or engaged in any transactions or arrangements with
certain employers or businesses must file a report with OLMS.
The Form T-1 was published, on March 6, 2020, and requires
annual reporting by Form LM-2 filing labor organizations on
financial information pertinent to ``trusts in which a labor
organization is interested'' (``section 3(l) trusts''). See: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-03-06/pdf/2020-03958.pdf. The
rule requires a labor organization with total annual receipts
$250,000 or more to file a Form T-1, under certain circumstances,
for each section 3(l) trust, as defined by 29 U.S.C. 402(l) of the
LMRDA. Under this rule, the Form T-1 reporting requirements are
triggered where the labor organization during the reporting period,
either alone or in combination with other labor organizations, (1)
selects or appoints the majority of the members of the trust's
governing board, or (2) contributes more than 50 percent of the
trust's receipts.
\5\ The current Form LM-4 does not contain schedules. Therefore,
EFS does not have a function for importing electronic data into the
Form LM-4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Canvassing OLMS Field Investigators
i. Field Investigators Response on Benefits and Drawbacks of Form LM-2
In July and September of 2019, the Department sought information
from its OLMS field investigators on the benefits or drawbacks of the
changes made to the Form LM-2 by the 2003 rulemaking. This is in
keeping with the 2009 rule's suggestion for additional study of the
2003 changes, such as by reviewing them with OLMS staff. As discussed
below, this review has been helpful to the Department by confirming
disclosure requirements' helpful role in ensuring union democracy and
transparency under the LMRDA. Indeed, some of the comments provided by
OLMS staff are directly implemented as proposed revisions to the LM
forms. The Department of does not, however, view itself as restricted
to these comments when deciding how to revise the LM forms. The staff's
comments demonstrate that many of the reforms accomplished in 2003 have
been helpful to OLMS in uncovering and deterring wrongdoing. Further
reforms, including those suggested by the staff, are intended to
further protect union members' rights and enhance compliance with the
LMRDA.
For these same reasons, the Department is of the view that this
proposed rule is an appropriate exercise of its discretion in
administering the LMRDA. See Ala. Educ. Ass'n v. Chao, 539 F. Supp. 2d
378, 384 (D.D.C. 2008). The Department's October 2009 rule stated that
the Department should consider the utility of increased reporting
against the burdens it imposes, citing various types of legislative
history about the need for government to not impede union self-
governance. The LMRDA weights that balance heavily in favor of
``necessary protection of the rights and interests of employees and the
public generally as they relate to the activities of labor
organizations, employers, labor relations consultants, and their
officers and representatives.'' 29 U.S.C. 401(b). The LMRDA ``is
necessary to eliminate or prevent improper practices on the part of
labor organizations'' and others. Id. 401(c). While this rule would
incur some new burdens on labor unions, the Department views those
burdens as necessary and appropriate to ensure transparency and prevent
malfeasance before it happens. The Department views this as especially
important now given the massive UAW criminal scheme and a smaller but
steady stream of criminal misconduct despite the Department's vigorous
enforcement of the LMRDA. Other aspects of this rule propose reducing
reporting obligations where those have proved to be unhelpful in
effecting the LMRDA's purposes.
Further, the LMRDA's comprehensive reporting regime, including as
enhanced by this proposed rule, does not impede but furthers union
self-governance. The changes to the LM forms proposed in this rule give
union members more information about how their elected leaders are
using their funds, allowing them to better hold them accountable and
better ensuring that the LMRDA is followed. Robust reporting regimes
are the norm under the securities laws, in lobbying and in
contributions to political candidates, and in many other areas where
voters select officials who are charged with their trust. Accounting
ensures accountability. ``Sunlight is said to be the best of
disinfectants,'' and that is true here as well. Louis D. Brandeis,
Other People's Money 92 (1914).
[[Page 64731]]
A questionnaire summarized the changes made in 2003 and asked
``whether the changes made to the Form LM-2 in 2003 have aided or
hindered OLMS in its enforcement activities.'' \6\ Field personnel were
advised that ``[w]e are looking to determine whether the changes OLMS
made to the Form LM-2 in 2003 have proven beneficial. The document LM
Form Benefits of 2003 Changes contains a description of the changes
made in 2003. Please ask your district directors to meet with their
staff. I envision each office holding a 30 minute brainstorming
session. The idea is to determine whether the new parts of the Form LM-
2, like itemization or functional categories, have helped with
investigations.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ This questionnaire and the responses to it have been made
part of the administrative record and will be available at the start
of the comment period, along with the comments that will be filed by
the public. Note: The first response included in the questionnaire
was included as an example to demonstrate to the investigators what
type of information was being sought.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the convenience of the investigators, the changes were
summarized as follows:
1. $5,000 Itemization threshold: Form LM-2 filers itemize certain
categories of receipts and disbursements of $5,000 or more, as well as
receipts and disbursements to a single entity that total (aggregate to)
$5,000 or more in the reporting year.
2. $5,000 Itemization Confidentiality Exemption: Provides labor
organizations with a procedure to avoid itemizing disbursements that
would reveal the following types of information:
Information that would identify individuals paid by the
union to work in a non-union bargaining unit in order to assist the
union in organizing employees;
Information that would expose the reporting union's
prospective organizing strategy;
Information that would provide a tactical advantage to
parties with whom the reporting union or an affiliated union is engaged
or will be engaged in contract negotiations;
Information pursuant to a settlement that is subject to a
confidentiality agreement, or that the union is otherwise prohibited by
law from disclosing; and
Information in those situations where disclosure would
endanger the health or safety of an individual.
3. Disbursements are reported in specified categories
(Representational Activities; Political Activities and Lobbying;
Contributions, Gifts and Grants; General Overhead; and Union
Administration).
4. Functional Reporting: The LM-2 requires unions to estimate the
time spent by each union officer and employee on different duties,
based on the categories of activities represented by the LM-2 schedules
and represented as percentage of work time totaling 100 percent. Unions
then report the portion of gross salaries for each schedule based on
the percentage of time estimates.
5. Accounts Payable/Receivable: The LM-2 includes schedules
designed for reporting delinquent accounts payable and receivable (with
the typical LM-2 itemization threshold of $5,000).
6. Reporting of Investments: The LM-2 requires unions to report all
investments that both have a book value greater than $5,000 and
represent five percent or more of the union's investments.
7. Membership Categories: The LM-2 requires unions to report their
number of members by aggregate categories (unions can determine the
categories for reporting).
First, with regard to the $5,000 itemization threshold, the field
investigators noted that itemization aided in determining whether Form
LM-30 and Form LM-10 cases should be opened, aided in embezzlement
investigations, and was an important case targeting tool.\7\ One office
stated, ``Of the seven changes to the Form LM-2 in 2003, the consensus
is that the [existing] $5,000 itemization threshold was the best of the
seven as it provides more transparency to the membership and can be
utilized for targeting special report investigations.'' Itemization is
important because it can reveal unlawful payments to identified
individuals. It can reveal conflicts of interest that are reportable on
other LMRDA forms.\8\ Absent itemization, this information would not be
known.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Pursuant to the instructions for the Form LM-10 Employer
Report, employers must file annual reports to disclose certain
specified financial dealings with their employees, unions, union
agents, and labor relations consultants. Pursuant to the
instructions for the Form LM-30 Union Officer and Employee Report,
labor organization officers or employees (other than exclusively
clerical or custodial employees) who have directly or indirectly
held any legal or equitable interest in, received any payments from,
or engaged in any transactions or arrangements with certain
employers or businesses must file a report with OLMS. This report is
submitted on a Form LM-30 and is required to make public any actual
or likely conflict between the personal financial interests of union
officers or employees and their obligations to the union and its
members. Form LM-10 and LM-30 cases, along with several other case
types, are called ``special reports'' cases.
\8\ See prior footnote for discussion of the type of
transactions that might trigger other LMRDA reports.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second, with regard to the confidentiality exemption, one
investigator wrote that it ``has been a hindrance in case targeting
because it allows unions to hide transactions under the guise that it
will hurt their organizational strategy.'' Others felt that it likely
benefited only unions but they could also see how some reporting might
be harmful to the unions. The confidentiality exemption attempts to
protect important labor union interests, but it reduces transparency by
eliminating itemization.
Third, with regard to functional categories (reporting of
disbursements in specified categories i.e., Representational
Activities, Political Activities and Lobbying; Contributions, Gifts and
Grants; General Overhead; and Union Administration), the field offered
examples of being able to target audits ``based on unusual
categorization patterns.'' They also ``traced categorized transfers
between affiliates that indicated reporting or other potential LMRDA
violations.'' On the other hand, investigators noted that the $5,000
itemization occurs only within each category so that disbursements of
more than $5,000 might not be itemized if the disbursement fell under
more than one category. Functional reporting aids in understanding the
purposes of labor union spending but it can cloak individual
transactions because of the $5,000 itemization threshold.
Another investigator felt that two of the categories, Schedule 18--
General Overhead and Schedule 19--Union Administration, were similar
and were confused by labor organizations.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ In reflecting on this assertion, OLMS reviewed the
instructions and finds that there is an adequate distinction between
union administration (``includes disbursements relating to the
nomination and election of union officers, the union's regular
membership meetings, intermediate, national and international
meetings, union disciplinary proceedings, the administration of
trusteeships, and the administration of apprenticeship and member
education programs'') and general overhead (``support personnel at
the labor organization's headquarters, such as building maintenance
personnel and security guards, and other overhead costs'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fourth, with regard to union officers and employees allocating
their time by functional categories, the investigators stated that the
reporting of time in categories could not be audited, could not be
enforced, and did not lead to other enforcement activity. One field
office stated, ``It provides unverifiable disclosure information to the
public.'' Another stated flatly that ``this information offers no
valuable insight for case targeting and has provided no benefit in
criminal investigations or compliance audits.'' Another wrote, ``It is
and will always be a ballpark guess and the categories are confusing to
the
[[Page 64732]]
union and to OLMS field staff.'' Functional reporting, which discloses
the amount of time union officers and employees spend on different
functions, arguably does not provide investigators with useful
information in enforcing or administering the LMRDA.
Fifth, with regard to accounts payable/receivable aging schedules,
one field office wrote that the information is ``necessary to determine
how much the union is owed/owes.'' Another thought it was ``useful to
encounter embezzlements.'' This schedule can reveal the financial
health of the labor union and can disclose delinquent or troubled
accounts or questionable financial transactions.
Sixth, with regard to reporting of investments, one office found it
necessary for tracking purposes on investments from year to year.
Another determined that it ``can be useful to the field and to
members.'' Another said, ``This is useful to the extent the unions are
able to figure out how to report it. We have found corroborating
information reported here that has been useful in a criminal
investigation as well as a union officer reports case.'' Another office
concluded that the information was ``good for union members.'' The
schedule enables a union member to learn about the performance of union
investments. Further, it assists in other aspects of union reporting.
As described above, union officers and employees must file a Form LM-30
if they or their spouses or minor children received certain payments,
held certain interests, or engaged in certain transactions involving,
for example, the represented employer. The Form LM-30 also covers
payments from businesses, such as vendors and service providers, that
buy from or sell to such employers, the official's union, or the
union's trust. A union investment in a union official's business would
necessitate a Form LM-30 and this schedule would reveal such an
interest.
Seventh, with regard to membership categories, investigators found
it helpful in that the categories many times include agency fee payers
and that it assists in determining the active dues paying members, as
it corresponds to dues receipts. This is particularly helpful in trade
unions where there are different levels of memberships. Another
investigator felt that it was helpful to estimate dues receipts and
very useful in union election cases.
In summary, field investigators were in favor of itemization,
believing it provides both transparency and aids investigations. The
investigators recognized the need for some confidentiality for labor
unions but also believed the confidentiality exemption detracted from
transparency. With regard to functional categories, the field
investigators believed that it helped in selecting unions for audit but
reduced transparency by limiting the number of itemized transactions.
The field discerned no value in union officers and union employees
allocating their time by functional categories. The investigators
believed the accounts payable/receivable aging schedules, as well as
reporting of investments, aided in the enforcement of the LMRDA. With
regard to membership categories, the investigators found it helpful
when targeting audits, estimating dues receipts, and in running
supervised elections.
ii. Field Investigators' Responses on Items To Be Added to the
Reporting Forms
The investigators were also asked to identify any information that
is not currently available on the Form LM-2 but would be useful to OLMS
in its mission or to union members interested in their union's
financial conditions, operations, and activities. They were also asked
to identify any unnecessary information now reported on the annual
disclosure forms. The regional directors were directed to ``canvas your
district directors to identify any changes that could be made to the
Form LM-2/3/4 annual financial disclosure form. The idea is to consider
what additional information would be useful to OLMS in its mission or
to union members interested in their union's financial conditions,
operations, and activities. Conversely, if you believe that certain
information now reported on the annual disclosure forms is unnecessary,
please let us know.''
Two responses advocated removing three of the special procedures
for reporting confidential information. Under these procedures, the
following information is subject to special reporting privileges under
the confidentiality exception: (1) Information that would identify
individuals paid by the union to work in a non-union facility in order
to assist the union in organizing employees, provided that such
individuals are not employees of the union who receive more than
$10,000 in the aggregate from the union in the reporting year; (2)
information that would expose the reporting union's prospective
organizing strategy; (3) information that would provide a tactical
advantage to parties with whom the reporting union or an affiliated
union is engaged or would be engaged in contract negotiations; (4)
information pursuant to a settlement that is subject to a
confidentiality agreement, or that the union is otherwise prohibited by
law from disclosing; and (5) information in those situations where
disclosure would endanger the health or safety of an individual. The
investigator would eliminate the first three of these exceptions. As
mentioned above, the confidentiality exemption attempts to protect
important labor union interests, but eliminating itemization provides a
means for unscrupulous filers to avoid scrutiny of questionable
transactions.
A district director recommended that the forms identify whether the
labor union filing the report is under trusteeship. This would allow
easy and immediate recognition of trusteeship, the district director
concluded. Under the LMRDA, a labor organization that has imposed a
trusteeship over a subordinate labor organization must file an initial
trusteeship report on Form LM-15, including a Statement of Assets and
Liabilities, within 30 days after the date of the imposition of the
trusteeship. By requiring Form LM-2 filers to disclose their
trusteeship status, OLMS would be better able to enforce the Form LM-15
filing obligation.
A district director suggested a question that would identify
officers and employees who were paid $10,000 or more by the filing
labor organization and other labor organizations. Similarly, an
investigator suggested that OLMS add the following question to the Form
LM-2: ``Has any officer who received $10,000 or more by your
organization also received $10,000 or more as an officer or employee of
another labor organization or of an employee benefit plan?'' If the
answer is ``yes,'' the union would be required to complete a table
listing the name of the officer, the amount paid, and the file number
of any filing affiliate. This query would provide union members with
more complete information about their union officials' compensation and
would assist in determining whether officials are receiving
compensation twice for the same expenses or same work.
A regional director asked for a change in wording on a question on
the Form LM-2. Instead of asking whether the labor organization had
``discovered'' a shortage of funds, the labor organization would be
asked whether the labor organization has ``experienced'' a shortage of
funds. Specifically, Item 13 asks, ``During the reporting period did
the labor organization discover any loss or shortage of funds or other
assets?'' The regional director would change this sentence to read,
``[d]uring the reporting period did the labor organization
[[Page 64733]]
experience any loss or shortage of funds or other assets?'' The
regional director reasoned, ``Since the person embezzling funds is
often the same person that completes the LM report, to ensure [false
reporting] can be used as an alternative violation/charge, these
questions should ask if the union experienced and/or discovered a
loss.''
An investigator recommended revising the Form LM-3 to add a
schedule requiring the labor union to identify disbursements to
employees. Similarly, the investigator recommended that the Form LM-4
require the labor union to complete a schedule of all officers and
disbursements to officers. To minimize burden for labor unions with
fewer financial resources, the Form LM-3 currently does not require
unions to identify disbursements to employees. Similarly, the Form LM-4
does not require filers to identify disbursements to employees or to
identify officers.
An investigator opined that OLMS should add a column to the
schedule of compensation to officers and employees. This would affect
Schedule 11--All Officers and Disbursements to Officers and Schedule
12--Disbursements to Employees. The column would identify disbursements
for benefits paid to the officers. The investigator recommended that,
in light of these changes, Schedule 20--Benefits, could be
eliminated.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ The investigator's recommendation is based on a faulty
premise. Reporting of disbursements to employees and officers and
the schedule next to their names would not eliminate the need for a
schedule of benefits. The benefits schedule would still be needed to
allow the labor organization to report its disbursements associated
with benefits of members and their beneficiaries.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
One investigator offered that labor organizations that file Form
LM-4 should disclose the date of their next scheduled election of
officers. Form LM-2 and Form LM-3 filers already report election dates.
Requiring election dates on Form LM-4 reports would assist union
members in participating in the governance of their union. It would aid
OLMS in the enforcement of Title IV election provisions of the LMRDA.
With regard to Schedule 4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed
Assets, an investigator proposed adding a column to show credit
received on purchases, such as a trade-in of an automobile. Absent such
information, the ``cash paid'' column on Schedule 4--Purchase of
Investments and Fixed Assets, will appear misleadingly low.
With regard to Item 46--On Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal to
Them and its counterpart Item 63--To Affiliates of Funds Collected on
Their Behalf, one investigator proposed to require a description of the
types of funds being withheld and transmitted. That investigator had
the same suggestion with regard to Item 47--From Members for
Disbursements on Their Behalf and Item 64--On Behalf of Individual
Members. Currently, the filer must enter the total receipts from
members that are specifically designated by them for disbursement on
their behalf. For example, contributions from members for transmittal
by the labor organization to charities would be reported. Requiring a
description of the types of funds being withheld and transmitted would
enable members to know which of their funds were being channeled and
where the funds ultimately went. It would also require a new schedule.
A regional director recommended that (1) LM forms and instructions
should be translated into Spanish, (2) reports should list the
principal employers of the union members, along with the city and
state, (3) the fiscal year should appear on top of each page of the
reports, (4) the report should disclose distributions to PAC funds and
PAC fund payees, (5) the report should disclose if an officer or
employee of a union also receives compensation from another labor
union. A Spanish version of the instructions would be helpful for
Spanish-speaking union officers but would make the report inaccessible
to non-Spanish speakers. A list of the principal employers would be
helpful in criminal investigations but would be difficult to administer
as the phrase ``principal employers'' is not clear. A list of PAC fund
payees would be redundant to other election-related reporting.
An investigator recommended that OLMS require reporting of
transactions if an officer or employee, or a spouse or minor child of
the officer or employee, either directly or indirectly held any legal
or equitable interest, received any payments, or engaged in
transactions or arrangements (including loans) of the types described
in the Form LM-30 instructions. Under the Form LM-30, union officers or
employees (except employees performing exclusively clerical or
custodial services) must file a Form LM-30 if they or their spouses or
minor children (less than 21 years of age) either directly or
indirectly received certain payments, held certain interests, or
engaged in certain transactions involving (1) the employers whose
employees the union represents or actively seeks to represent (i.e.,
the represented employer); (2) businesses, such as vendors and service
providers, that buy from or sell to such employers, the official's
union, or the union's trust; and (3) other employers from which a
payment could create a conflict. The investigator's work on a complex
case involving the UAW in Detroit led this investigator to believe that
this information would be valuable in identifying such cases, and
having them prosecuted.
An investigator endorsed using the IRS Principal Business or
Professional Activities Codes to answer the ``Type or Classification
(B)'' column Schedules 14 through 19. As background, the instructions
for the Form LM-2 require labor organizations to ``[e]nter in Column
(B) the type of business or job classification of the entity or
individual.'' The instructions for the Annual Report Form 5500 includes
a chart of the codes, which are available online. General Instructions
to Form 5500-SF, p. 23. The investigator opined that these codes would
help get more uniform answers and prevent some of the vague and
deficient answers.
An investigator recommended that union vendors should be listed
with their Employer Identification Number (EIN), a nine-digit number
that the IRS assigns to identify the tax accounts of employers and
certain others who have no employees. EINs are used by employers, sole
proprietors, corporations, partnerships, non-profit associations,
trusts, estates of decedents, government agencies, and other business
entities. The investigator explained that sham businesses often do not
have an EIN.
For the Form LM-4, a supervisory investigator recommended requiring
labor unions to list the names of officers, as well as identifying
whether the officer is continuing in office, is a past officer, or is a
new officer. This would allow OLMS to better be able to locate and
contact officers of a union other than the signers of its previous LM-
4, should both of those signers leave office. That supervisory
investigator also recommended adding the date of next election of
officers to the Form LM-4, allowing OLMS to determine any turnover in
officers in a union and to aid in locating/contacting officers of a
union. It would also enable OLMS to avoid scheduling an audit at a time
close to a labor union officer election.
A district director recommended eliminating a reporting exception
applicable to Item 24 of the Form LM-3. The reporting exception is also
applicable to Schedule 11--All Officers and Disbursements to Officers
and Schedule 12--Disbursements to Employees of the Form LM-2. This
exception covers ``indirect disbursements for temporary lodging
[[Page 64734]]
(room rent charges only) or transportation by public carrier necessary
for conducting official business while the officer is in travel status
away from his or her home and principal place of employment with [the
labor] organization if payment is made by [the] organization directly
to the provider or through a credit arrangement.'' The district
director explained that the exception is cumbersome to follow (and even
for OLMS representatives to explain to the regulated community),
unnecessary for accurate disclosure, and contrary to the procedures
applied to disclosure for the remainder of transactions reportable in
Item 24 and Schedules 11 and 12. By disclosing those transactions as
payments to officers or employees (rather than in more general
categories elsewhere on the reports), the public would know who really
benefited from them, the district director concluded.
With regard to Schedule 3--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets and
Schedule 4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets, a regional
director proposed separation into two different schedules. This would,
it was asserted, more easily allow for a reconciliation of investments
and fixed assets by using beginning of year figures plus sales, minus
receipts, and comparing to end of year figures. This cannot currently
be done using electronic data because investments and fixed assets are
combined. This would arguably provide better transparency for
evaluation of the performance of investments.
An investigator suggested that automobiles purchased and sold
should be specifically identified either with a VIN or by detailed
description, similar to the requirement for land and buildings. This
would provide better transparency for vehicles as the current schedules
require labor organizations report only the cost, book value, sales
price, and amount received. Any extraordinary handling of a vehicle
such as, for example, a sale well below book value would be obvious.
A district director proposed removing Line (I) (estimated
percentage of time spent by the officer/employee on activities that
fall within Schedules 15 through 19) from Schedule 11--All Officers and
Disbursements to Officers and Schedule 12--Disbursements to Employees.
In lieu of these time estimates, the district director recommended the
addition of a more detailed breakdown of disbursements reported to
officers and employees in (1) the salaries reported in Column D; (2)
the allowances reported in Column E; (3) the reimbursed expenses
reported in Column F; and (4) other disbursements reporting in Column
G.
For example, the district director continued, the report of
salaries paid to an officer/employee would be broken down and reported
in the following categories: (1) Salary, (2) lost wages, and (3)
bonuses. In another example, the reporting of reimbursed expenses paid
to an officer/employee could be reported in the following categories:
(1) Disbursements for meal expenses/entertainment', (2) disbursements
for mileage, (3) disbursements for travel expenses, and (4)
disbursements for union vehicle expenses. This additional information
on salary, allowances, reimbursed expenses, and other disbursements
would provide better transparency to union members and the public on
how union funds are being spent. Further, this would provide OLMS
additional data for targeting potential compliance audits and/or
criminal cases, it was asserted.
Other suggestions included a requirement that the union report
contact phone numbers and/or email addresses for all executive
officers, require Form LM-3 filers to list all employees, and require
LM-4 filers to list all officers. This would make it easier for OLMS
investigators to contact the correct union officials, in the event of
an investigation or audit.
The union, an investigator recommended, should provide the date of
the most recent constitution and bylaws. This would assist the members
in participating in the governance of their union and would aid OLMS in
administering the Title IV election provisions of the LMRDA.
Taking the field's observations under consideration, along with
OLMS' experiences in the administration of current reporting
requirements, the Department makes the following proposals to establish
a Form LM-2 Long Form (LF), and revise the Form LM-2.
C. Proposed Form LM-2 LF
In light of the Department's experience and observations, and to
increase transparency for the benefit of union members, the public, and
the Department, the Department proposes a long form version of the Form
LM-2, the Form LM-2 LF. This form will be applicable to labor
organizations with annual receipts of $8,000,000 or more. The
$8,000,000 threshold is based on the Small Business Administration's
definition of a small entity, as identified by North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS) codes. 13 CFR 121.201. Some small-entity
thresholds are lower, and some are higher; the Department has sought a
threshold that ensures proper coverage of large unions while not
overburdening smaller unions. By setting this threshold, the Department
will bring additional transparency to the largest and most prominent
labor unions.
When practicable, the changes to the form are set out in this
section in the order in which they would appear on the form. When no
change to an item is proposed, that fact is also noted. New material,
added by this proposal, will be discussed in the order it would appear
in a revised form. A facsimile of the current LM-2 is available at
https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/GPEA_Forms/forms/Form_LM2_2021.pdf. And the full proposed LM-2 LF is available on the
rulemaking docket on www.regulations.gov.
The Department invites comment on all aspects of the proposed
changes to the forms. In particular, the Department seeks comments on
the following questions:
Are there other changes to the LM forms that would help
deter or expose potential misuse of union members' funds or other
violations of the LMRDA?
Are there other problematic practices involving, for
instance, wastes of union funds, conflicts of interest, or failures to
discharge fiduciary duties faithfully that potentially could be
deterred or exposed by revisions to the LM forms?
Are there other changes to the form that would help ensure
transparency and accountability to the public, to union members, and to
the Department regarding uses of union members' funds?
Are there other means for union members to obtain the
information sought in the proposal that would decrease the reporting
burden on unions or maintain union confidentiality without sacrificing
transparency and accountability?
Item 1--File Number. The Department proposes no change to this
item.
Item 2--Period Covered. The Department proposes no change to this
item.
Item 3--Amended, Hardship Exempted, Terminal, or Trusteeship
Report. The Department proposes to add ``(d) TRUSTEESHIP'' with a
checkbox to Item 3. The checkbox would indicate that the report is
being filed by a labor organization for a subordinate labor
organization that it has placed in trusteeship. This would assist the
Department to determine whether a labor union is in trusteeship to
ensure that the appropriate trusteeship reports (Form LM-15, Form LM-
15A, or Form
[[Page 64735]]
LM-16) are also filed.\11\ The Form LM-2 LF is only for labor
organizations in trusteeships with $8,000,000 or more in annual
receipts. Other trusteeships would be reported on the Form LM-2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ The Form LM-15 Trusteeship Report requires both initial and
semiannual reports. Initial reports are due within 30 days after a
labor union imposes a trusteeship over a subordinate union. The form
is filed by the parent union and it discloses the reasons for the
trusteeship, when it was established, the financial condition of the
trusteed union at the time the trusteeship was established, and
other required information. Semiannual reports are due within 30
days after the end of each 6-month period for the duration of the
trusteeship. The parent union must file a semiannual report, on Form
LM-15, explaining its reasons for continuing the trusteeship.
Form LM-15A must be filed with a semiannual or terminal
trusteeship report if, during the period covered by the report,
there was any convention or other policy-determining body to which
the subordinate union sent delegates or would have sent delegates if
not in trusteeship, or any election of officers of the union that
imposed the trusteeship over the subordinate union.
Within 90 days after the termination of the trusteeship, or the
loss of identity as a reporting organization by the trusteed union,
the parent union must file a Terminal Trusteeship Report, Form LM-
16.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item 4--Affiliation or Organization Name. The Department proposes
no change to this item.
Item 5--Designation. The Department proposes no change to this
item.
Item 6--Designation Number. The Department proposes no change to
this item.
Item 7--Unit Name. The Department proposes no change to this item.
Item 8--Mailing Address. The Department proposes no change to this
item.
Item 9--Records Kept. The Department proposes no change to these
items.
Item 10--Trust or Other Fund. The Department proposes to
redesignate the current Item 10 as Item 10(a).
The Department also proposes a new Item 10(b), concerning payments
from more than one union. Item 10(b) would ask whether, during the
reporting period, an officer or employee who was paid $10,000 or more
by the reporting organization also received $10,000 or more as an
officer or employee of another labor organization in gross salaries,
allowances, and other direct and indirect disbursements during the
reporting period. If the answer is ``Yes,'' the labor organization
would provide additional information in Item 75--Additional
Information.\12\ This additional information would require the union to
list the name of the officer, amount paid, labor organization that made
the payment, and file number of the labor organization. This change
would promote union democracy and accountability by helping members
understand whether officers and employees are also receiving money from
another union. This change would also help identify conflicts of
interest and make it easier to track funds flowing from union to union.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ Current Item 69--Additional Information is proposed to be
renumbered Item 75--Additional information, with no substantive
change. For clarity, we use the proposed numbering here.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item 11--Political Action Committee (PAC) Funds, Subsidiary
Organizations, and Strike Funds. The Department proposes no changes to
current Items 11(a) (Political Action Committee funds) and 11(b)
(Subsidiary organization). The Department proposes a new Item 11(c), in
which the union would be required to report if it has a separate strike
fund. If the answer is ``Yes,'' the union must provide, in Item 75--
Additional Information, the amount of funds in the strike fund as of
the close of the reporting period.
Strike funds are meant to help meet the basic needs of striking
workers. Union members likely would be interested in knowing the
financial strength of the strike fund. This knowledge would help union
members when considering strategies for dealing with employers.
Unions promote strike funds to their members and make the case that
members must contribute to a fund. If the strike fund is not as healthy
as advertised, this could be a warning sign for members.
Strike funds are also subject to embezzlement. For example, on
March 30, 2009, in the United States District Court for the Northern
District of West Virginia, Steven Snyder, former Financial Secretary of
Steelworkers Local 5724 (located in Clarington, Ohio), was sentenced to
five months' incarceration after pleading guilty to embezzling
$78,893.47 in union strike fund benefits. In another example, a former
president of Steelworkers Union Local 5000 was indicted for submitting
more than $185,000 in vouchers to receive Strike Fund benefits for his
family's expenses between 2010 and 2012. He and his wife had nearly
$160,000 in income during the same time period. While collecting Strike
Fund benefits, he made and caused to be made numerous retail purchases
of non-necessity items, such as dining out at several restaurants and
the purchase of Carrie Underwood concert tickets. On October 18, 2017,
in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio,
the defendant was sentenced and ordered to pay restitution. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndoh/pr/former-president-steelworkers-union-local-5000-charged-stealing-hundreds-thousandshttps://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/enforce_2017.htm
The Department acknowledges that employers may benefit from knowing
the extent of their employees' union strike fund during negotiations or
a labor impasse. There is further a potential cost to individual
members associated with public disclosure. Once publicly-available, the
information may lead to less favorable contracts, harming the members.
Given, nevertheless, that strike funds may hold substantial sums that
otherwise would not be available for public inspection--and thus more
opportunity for the detection of financial improprieties, as has
happened in the past--and that public disclosure would make it easier
for union members to review this information, the Department believes
the benefits of disclosure outweigh competing considerations. The
Department requests comment on this item and how it can best ascertain
the proper and transparent use of union funds, including through strike
funds.
Item 12--Audit or Review of Books and Records. The Department
proposes no change to this item.
Item 13--Loss or Shortages. The Department proposes to revise Item
13 to clarify that reporting is required if the filer is aware the
labor organization has experienced a shortage of funds. Currently Item
13 asks, ``During the reporting period did the labor organization
discover any loss or shortage of funds or other assets?'' Yet, the
person filling out the report may not report anything if he caused the
loss through embezzlement, on the argument that he always knew of the
loss. As revised, Item 13 would provide, ``During the reporting period
did the labor organization experience and/or discover any loss or
shortage of funds or other assets?'' Currently, reporting is required
only when the shortage has been discovered. An individual responsible
for filing the form may be responsible for, and therefore know of, an
undiscovered embezzlement. The change in wording from ``discover'' to
``experience and/or discover'' would clarify that all shortages are
reportable, even if the labor union itself has not discovered the loss,
and that the union is on inquiry notice to take reasonable steps to
uncover losses or shortages. This is more in keeping with typical
financial certifications in which the filer must make reasonable
inquiries as to things the filer knows or should know. So long as the
officer filing the report is aware of the shortage, the shortage must
be reported.
[[Page 64736]]
Item 14--Fidelity Bond. The Department proposes no change to this
item.
Item 15-- Acquisition or Disposition of Assets. The Department
proposes no change to this item.
Item 16--Pledged or Encumbered Assets. The Department proposes no
change to this item.
Item 17--Contingent Liabilities. The Department proposes no change
to this item.
Item 18--Changes in Constitution and Bylaws. The Department
proposes to re-designate the current Item 18 as Item 18(a). The
Department proposes a new Item 18(b). This item would require labor
organizations to provide the date of the labor organizations' current
constitution and bylaws. This would aid the Department, when conducting
investigations of union elections and when supervising rerun elections,
to ensure that the most current and correct provisions are applied. It
would also aid union members in their efforts to follow the most
current and accurate union procedures.
Item 19--Next Regular Election. The Department proposes no change
to this item.
Item 20--Number of Members. The Department proposes no change to
this item. This item is supported by Schedule 13--Membership Status.
Schedule 13 would be renumbered Schedule 15--Membership Status, without
any substantive change.
Item 21--Dues and Fees. The Department proposes no change to this
item.
Statement A--Assets and Liabilities
This statement contains two primary sections, ``Assets'' and
``Liabilities.'' Under each heading are items listed that describe
categories of assets or liabilities that should be reported. There are
no proposed changes to the items listed under ``Assets'' and
``Liabilities.'' Two of the schedules (Schedule 1--Accounts Receivable
Aging Schedule and Schedule 8--Accounts Payable Aging Schedule) that
support these items would be revised. Specifically, the Department
proposes to raise the $5,000 reporting threshold to a $7,500 threshold.
This thresholds reflects that inflation has occurred since 2003, when
the $5,000 threshold was promulgated. Further, with fewer transactions
to itemize, the reporting burden would be reduced.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ The Department's threshold increase to $7,500 will apply
only to Schedule 1--Accounts Receivable Aging Schedule and Schedule
8 (proposed to be renumbered as Schedule 10)--Accounts Payable Aging
Schedule. The other schedule thresholds will remain at $5,000.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item 22--Cash. The Department proposes no change to this item.
Item 23--Accounts Receivable. The Department proposes no change to
this item. Item 23 remains supported by Schedule 1. On its supporting
schedule (Schedule 1--Accounts Receivable Aging Schedule), the
Department proposes to raise the $5,000 reporting threshold to a $7,500
threshold. Accounts Receivable of less than $7,500 need not be
reported. This 50 percent increase in the threshold would reduce the
reporting burden.
Item 24--Loans Receivable. The Department proposes no change to
this item. Item 24 remains supported by Schedule 2.
Item 25--U.S. Treasury Securities. The Department proposes no
change to this item.
Item 26--Investments. The Department proposes no change to this
item. This item is supported by Schedule 5--Investments. Schedule 5
would be renumbered Schedule 7--Investments, without substantive
change.
Item 27--Fixed Assets. The Department proposes no change to this
item. This item is supported by Schedule 6--Fixed Assets. Schedule 6
would be renumbered Schedule 8--Fixed Assets, without substantive
change.
Item 28--Other Assets. The Department proposes no change to this
item. This item is supported by Schedule 7--Other Assets. Schedule 7
would be renumbered Schedule 9--Other Assets, without substantive
change.
Item 29--Total Assets. The Department proposes no change to this
item.
Item 30--Accounts Payable. The Department proposes no change to
this item. This item is currently supported by Schedule 8--Accounts
Payable Aging Schedule. Schedule 8 would be renumbered Schedule 10--
Accounts Payable Aging Schedule. The Department proposes to raise the
$5,000 reporting threshold for that schedule to a $7,500 threshold.
Accounts payable of less than $7,500 need not be reported.
Item 31--Loans Payable. The Department proposes no change to this
item. This item is supported by Schedule 9--Loans Payable. Schedule 9
would be renumbered Schedule 11-- Loans Payable, without substantive
change.
Item 32--Mortgages Payable. The Department proposes no change to
this item.
Item 33--Other Liabilities. The Department proposes no change to
this item. This item is supported by Schedule 10--Other Liabilities.
Schedule 10 would be renumbered Schedule 12-- Other Liabilities,
without substantive change.
Item 34--Total Liabilities. The Department proposes no change to
this item.
Item 35--Net Assets. The Department proposes no change to this
item.
Statement B--Receipts and Disbursements
This statement contains two sections, ``Cash Receipts'' and ``Cash
Disbursements.'' Under each heading are items listed that describe
categories of receipts or disbursements that should be reported. There
is one proposed change to the items listed under ``Cash Receipts.''
Specifically, Item 43--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets would be
divided into two items, Item 43--Sale of Investments and Item 44--Sale
of Fixed Assets. Subsequent items would be renumbered sequentially.
There are two proposed changes to the items listed under ``Cash
Disbursements.'' First, Item 50--Political Activities and Lobbying
would be renumbered and separated into Item 51--Political Activities
and Item 52--Lobbying. Subsequent items would be renumbered
sequentially.
Further, as discussed below, the Department proposes additional
schedules to correspond to certain items listed under ``Cash Receipts''
that currently have no schedules. The Department also proposes
additional schedules to correspond to items listed under ``Cash
Disbursements.''
Cash Receipts
Item 36--Dues and Agency Fees. The Department proposes no change to
this item. The Department proposes adding a new Schedule 16, discussed
below.
Item 37--Per Capita Tax. The Department proposes no change to this
item. The Department proposes adding a new Schedule 17, discussed
below.
Item 38--Fees, Fines, Assessments, Work Permits. The Department
proposes no change to this item. The Department proposes adding a new
Schedule 18, discussed below.
Item 39--Sale of Supplies. The Department proposes no change to
this item. The Department proposes adding a new Schedule 19, discussed
below.
Item 40--Interest. The Department proposes no change to this item.
Item 41--Dividends. The Department proposes no change to this item.
Item 42--Rents. The Department proposes no change to this item. The
Department proposes adding a new Schedule 20.
Item 43--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets. The Department
proposes
[[Page 64737]]
to divide Item 43--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets into two items.
Item 43 would be renamed Item 43--Sale of Investments. Item 43 is
currently supported by Schedule 3--Sale of Investments and Fixed
Assets. It would be supported by a new Schedule 3, which would be
Schedule 3--Sale of Investments. The Department proposes a new Item
44--Sale of Fixed Assets. It would be supported by a new Schedule 4--
Sale of Fixed Assets.
In doing so, the Department proposes to divide the Sale of
Investments and Fixed Assets schedule into two schedules. On one
schedule, Schedule 3--Sale of Investments, labor organizations would
report receipts from the sale of investments. On another schedule,
Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed Assets, the labor organization would report
receipts from the sale of fixed assets.
Item 44--Loans Obtained. The Department proposes no substantive
change to this item. Item 44 would be renumbered Item 45. It is
currently supported by Schedule 9. It would now be supported by
Schedule 11--Loans Obtained, without substantive change.
Item 45--Repayments of Loans Made. The Department proposes no
substantive change to this item. Item 45 would be renumbered Item 46.
The item remains supported by Schedule 2.
Item 46--On Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal to Them. The
Department proposes no substantive change to this item. Item 46 would
be renumbered Item 47. Item 47--On Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal
would be supported by a new Schedule 21--On Behalf of Affiliates for
Transmittal to Them.
Item 47--From Members for Disbursement on Their Behalf. The
Department proposes no substantive change to this item. Item 47 would
be renumbered Item 48. Item 48--From Members for Disbursement on Their
Behalf would be supported by a new Schedule 22--From Members for
Disbursement on Their Behalf.
Item 48--Other Receipts. The Department proposes no substantive
change to this item. Item 48 would be renumbered Item 49. This item
would no longer be supported by schedule 14. Item 48--Other Receipts
would be supported by a new Schedule 23--Other Receipts.
Item 49--Total Receipts. The Department proposes no substantive
change to this item. Item 49 would be renumbered Item 50.
Cash Disbursements
Item 50--Representational Activities. The Department proposes to
divide Item 50--Representational Activities into two items. Item 50
would be renumbered Item 51 and renamed Item 51--Contract Negotiation
and Administration. There would be a new Item 52--Organizing. Schedule
15 would be divided in two and designated Schedule 24--Contract
Negotiation and Administration and Schedule 25--Organizing.
Item 51--Political Activities and Lobbying. The Department proposes
to divide Item 51-- Political Activities and Lobbying into two items.
Item 51 would be renumbered Item 53, and renamed Item 53--Political
Activities. There would be a new Item 54--Lobbying. The schedule,
currently Schedule 16--Political Activities and Lobbying, would be
split. It would be supported by a new Schedule 26--Political Activities
and a new Schedule 27--Lobbying.
In doing so, the Department proposes to break the Political
Activities and Lobbying schedule into two schedules. On Schedule 26,
labor organizations would report disbursements for political
activities. On Schedule 27, the labor organization would report
lobbying disbursements.
Item 52--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants. The Department proposes
no substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item
55--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants. The item would be supported by a
renumbered Schedule 28--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants, without
substantive change.
Item 53--General Overhead. The Department proposes no substantive
change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 56--General
Overhead. The Item would be supported by a renumbered Schedule 29--
General Overhead, without substantive change.
Item 54--Union Administration. The Department proposes no
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item
57--Union Administration. This Item would be supported by a renumbered
Schedule 30--Union Administration, without substantive change.
Item 55--Benefits: This item would be renumbered Item 58--Benefits.
The item would be supported by a renumbered and revised Schedule 31--
Benefits, without substantive change.
Item 56--Per Capita Tax. The Department proposes no substantive
change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 59--Per Capita
Tax.
Item 57--Strike Benefits. The Department proposes no substantive
change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 60--Strike
Benefits.
Item 58.--Fees, Fines, Assessments, etc. The Department proposes no
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item
61-- Fees, Fines, Assessments, etc.
Item 59--Supplies for Resale. The Department proposes no
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item
62--Supplies for Resale.
Item 60--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets. The Department
proposes to divide Item 60--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets
into Item 63--Purchase of Investments and Item 64--Purchase of Fixed
Assets.
The current Item 60 is supported by Schedule 4--Purchase of
Investments and Fixed Assets. The Department proposes to divide the
Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets schedule into two new
schedules. On one schedule, proposed Schedule 5--Purchase of
Investments, labor organizations would report disbursements for the
purchase of investments. On another schedule, proposed Schedule 6--
Purchase of Fixed Assets, labor organizations would report
disbursements for the purchase of fixed assets.
Item 61--Loans Made. The Department proposes no substantive change
to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 65--Loans Made. It
would continue to be supported by Schedule 2-- Loans Receivable.
Item 62--Repayment of Loans Obtained. The Department proposes no
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item
66-- Repayment of Loans Obtained. This item was previously supported by
Schedule 9--Loans Payable and would now be supported by renumbered
Schedule 11--Loans Payable, without substantive change.
Item 63--To Affiliates of Funds Collected on Their Behalf. The
Department proposes no substantive change to this item. This item would
be renumbered Item 67--To Affiliates of Funds Collected on Their
Behalf.
Item 64--On Behalf of Individual Members. The Department proposes
no substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item
68--On Behalf of Individual Members.
Item 65--Direct Taxes. The Department proposes no substantive
change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 69--Direct
Taxes.
Item 66--Subtotal. The Department proposes no substantive change to
this item. This item would be renumbered Item 72--Subtotal.
Item 67--Withholding Taxes and Payroll Deductions. The Department
proposes no substantive change to this item. This item would be
renumbered Item 73--Withholding Taxes and Payroll Deductions.
[[Page 64738]]
Item 67a--Total Withheld. The Department proposes no substantive
change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 73a--Total
Withheld.
Item 67b--Less Total Disbursed. The Department proposes no
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item
73b--Less Total Disbursed.
Item 67c--Total Withheld But Not Disbursed. The Department proposes
no substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item
73c--Total Withheld But Not Disbursed.
Item 68--Total Disbursements. The Department proposes no
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item
74--Total Disbursements.
Item 69--Additional Information. The Department proposes no
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item
75--Additional Information.
Item 70--Signed. The Department proposes no substantive change to
this item, which requires the signature of the union president or
equivalent officer. This item would be renumbered Item 76--Signed.
Item 71--Signed. The Department proposes no substantive change to
this item, which requires the signature of the union treasurer or
equivalent officer. This item would be renumbered Item 77--Signed.
Schedule 1--Accounts Receivable Aging Schedule. The Department
proposes no substantive change to this schedule. Under this schedule, a
labor organization must report (1) all accounts with an entity or
individual that aggregate to a value of $5,000 or more and that are 90
days or more past due at the end of the reporting period or were
liquidated, reduced, or written off during the reporting period and (2)
the total aggregated value of all other accounts receivable. The
Department proposes to reduce the burden by raising the threshold to
$7,500. Accounts below this threshold need not be individually
reported.
Schedule 2--Loans Receivable. The Department proposes no
substantive change to this schedule.
Schedule 3--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets. Under this
schedule, currently, a labor organization must report details of the
sale or redemption of U.S. Treasury securities, marketable securities,
other investments, and fixed assets, including those fixed assets that
were expensed. The assets and the investments are totaled and the
result is entered in Item 43.
As discussed above, under this proposed rule, Item 43 would be
renamed Item 43--Sale of Investments. A new Item 44--Sale of Fixed
Assets would be established.
The current Schedule 3--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets does
not allow the user to easily distinguish between investments and assets
and does not allow the Department to electronically compare beginning-
of-year investments, add purchases, and subtract sales, to determine
end-of-year investments. The schedule does not include adequate
information to determine whether a particular sale of an investment or
asset was at fair market value and at arm's length.
To address this lack of transparency, the Department proposes to
divide this schedule into new Schedule 3--Sale of Investments and new
Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed Assets.
In the new Schedule 3--Sale of Investments, the Department proposes
to add two new columns. The first new column, entitled ``Name and
Address of Purchaser or Financial Management Firm (A),'' would disclose
the purchasers of investments from the labor organization. A second
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the sale. The other
columns (Description (if land or buildings, give location); Cost; Book
Value; Gross Sales Price; and Amount Received) would remain the same
but would be designated with different letters, to accommodate the two
new columns. The columns would thus read: ``Name and Address of
Purchaser or Financial Management Firm (A); Description (B); Date of
Sale (C); Cost (D); Book Value (E); Gross Sales Price (F); and Amount
Received (G).'' These additions would enable members to determine, in
conjunction with other publicly-available information, that a sale was
transacted at fair market value and at arm's length, thereby helping to
prevent interested parties from unjustly enriching themselves by
purchasing labor organization investments at below-market price.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ For investments sold over a registered exchange, no
purchaser identity would be required. This exception is for bona
fide market transactions over a registered securities exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The book value of an asset is the value at which the investment or
fixed asset is shown on the labor organization's books. The value of
certain investments such as stocks can vary greatly within the fiscal
year. Because the date of sale is not listed on the current Form LM-2,
it cannot be determined whether the labor organization received fair
market value on the sale transaction.
The stock on the day of the sale may have been worth more than its
book value. In this scenario, it is impossible to determine whether the
stocks were sold by the labor organization at market value. The labor
organization's financial report filed on the current Form LM-2 would
show this transaction as a profit for the labor organization, but the
transaction could also have in fact been less favorable to the labor
organization if the investment was sold at a price below current market
value. The proposed changes would also help ensure disclosure of any
potential conflicts of interest between the purchaser and the labor
organization. The schedule would total all individually itemized
transactions and would provide the sum of the sales by itemized
individual purchasers and the sum of all non-itemized sales of
investments, as well as the total of all sales.
The second of the two divided schedules would be the new Schedule
4--Sale of Fixed Assets.
As in the case of new Schedule 3, the Department proposes to add
two new columns to Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed Assets. The first new
column entitled ``Name and Address of Purchaser (A)'' would disclose
the purchasers of fixed assets from the labor organization. A second
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the sale. The other
columns (Description (if land or buildings, give location); Cost; Book
Value; Gross Sales Price; and Amount Received) would remain the same
but would be designated with different letters, to accommodate the two
new columns. The columns would thus read ``Name and Address of
Purchaser (A); Description (if land or buildings, give location) (B);
Date of Sale (C); Cost (D); Book Value (E); Gross Sales Price (F); and
Amount Received (G).'' These additions would provide members with
information necessary to determine that the sale was transacted at fair
market value and at arm's length, thereby helping prevent interested
parties from unjustly enriching themselves by purchasing labor
organization assets at below-market price.
With regard to fixed assets, the Department proposes that the union
be required to identify automobiles individually by make, model, year,
and Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). This information would be
listed under existing Column A (Description). This would allow the
union members and the Department to know, when considered in light of
other publicly-available information, if the sale of these assets is
consistent with fair market value.
In reports filed, there is often ambiguity as to the asset itself
and the terms of its sale. For instance, one labor organization in its
latest Form LM-2
[[Page 64739]]
reported that it had sold ``automobiles'' for $14,700. The (unknown
number of) automobiles had a cost of $85,996 and a book value of
$76,397. Another labor organization sold an automobile with a cost of
$62,645 and a book value of $43,850 for $14,000. In these situations,
it cannot be determined whether the labor organization received fair
market value for the items that it sold, whether an insider benefited
from these transactions, or whether the union's officials are properly
managing the labor organization's finances.
Schedule 4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets. Under this
schedule, a labor organization currently must report details of the
purchases by the labor organization of U.S. Treasury securities,
marketable securities, other investments, and fixed assets, including
those fixed assets that were expensed.
The Department proposes to divide this schedule into new Schedule
5--Purchase of Investments and new Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed
Assets.
The current Schedule 4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets
does not allow the user to easily distinguish between investments and
assets and does not allow the Department to electronically compare
beginning-of-year investments, add purchases and subtract sales, to
determine end-of-year investments. The schedule does not provide labor
organization members with adequate information to enable them to
determine whether a particular purchase of an investment or asset was
transacted at fair market value and at arm's length. As with sales of
investments and fixed assets, the Department proposes to break this
schedule into two: Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments and Schedule 6--
Purchase of Fixed Assets.
In the new Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments, the Department
proposes to add two new columns. The first new column entitled ``Name
and Address of Seller or Financial Management Firm (A)'' would disclose
the identity of the seller of investments to the labor organization. A
second new column would disclose the date of the purchase. The column
titled: (Description (if land or buildings, give location) would be
changed to ``Description.'' The remaining columns (Cost; Book Value;
Gross Sales Price; and Cash Paid) would remain the same but would be
designated with different letters, to accommodate the two new columns.
Likewise, to new Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed Assets, the
Department proposes to add two new columns. The first new column
entitled ``Name and Address of Seller (A)'' would disclose the identity
of the seller of investments to the labor organization. A second new
column would disclose the date of the purchase. The other columns
(Description (if land or buildings, give location)); Cost; Book Value;
Gross Sales Price; and Amount Received) would remain the same but would
be designated with different letters, to accommodate the two new
columns.
These changes would provide information that, coupled with
publicly-available information, can be used to determine that all such
purchases were transacted at fair market value and at arm's length,
thereby helping to prevent parties from unjustly enriching themselves
by selling investments to a labor organization at above-market price.
The Department's review of data filed on the current Form LM-2 has
demonstrated that the current form does not provide labor organization
members with a clear understanding of the entities that are receiving,
in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars of the labor
organization members' money. For instance, one labor organization
listed on one line of its report disbursements of $259,173,494, another
labor organization reported disbursements of $94,353,190, and another
labor organization reported disbursements of $90,037,862. These reports
provide only a description of the asset or investment, its cost, book
value, and cash paid. None of the reports, however, disclosed the
identity of the parties that sold these assets to these labor
organizations. As a result, the members of these labor organizations
are not in a position to know whether these sums of money were well-
spent. The proposed changes help ensure the disclosure of any potential
conflicts of interest between the seller and the labor organization.
The schedules would total all individually itemized transactions
and would provide the sum of the purchases from itemized individual
sellers and the sum of all other purchases of investments and fixed
assets as well as the total of all purchases. This would allow the
union members and the Department to know if purchase of these assets is
consistent with fair market value.
Schedule 5--Investments. The Department proposes no substantive
change to this schedule. The schedule would be renumbered to Schedule
7--Investments.
Schedule 6--Fixed Assets. The Department proposes no substantive
change to this schedule. The schedule would be renumbered to Schedule
8--Fixed Assets.
Schedule 7--Other Assets. The Department proposes no substantive
change to this schedule. The schedule would be renumbered to Schedule
9--Other Assets.
Schedule 8--Accounts Payable Aging Schedule. The Department
proposes no substantive change to this schedule. The schedule would be
renumbered to Schedule 10--Accounts Payable Aging Schedule. Under this
schedule, currently, the labor organization must report (1) individual
accounts that are valued at $5,000 or more and that are 90 days or more
past due or were liquidated, reduced, or written off during the
reporting period; and (2) the total aggregated value of all other
accounts. The Department proposes to reduce the burden by raising the
threshold to $7,500. Accounts below this threshold need not be
individually reported. This change would decrease the burden on the
filing party.
Schedule 9--Loans Payable. The Department proposes no substantive
change to this schedule. The Department proposes to renumber this
schedule to Schedule 11--Loans Payable.
Schedule 10--Other Liabilities. The Department proposes no
substantive change to Schedule 10. The Department proposes to renumber
this schedule to Schedule 12--Other Liabilities.
Schedule 11--All Officers and Disbursements to Officers. Under this
schedule, the labor organization currently must list all the labor
organization's officers and report all salaries and other direct and
indirect disbursements to officers during the reporting period. The
filer must also report the percentage of time spent by each officer in
the functional categories provided, e.g., ``representational
activities,'' ``union administration,'' etc.
The Department proposes to renumber this schedule to Schedule 13--
All Officers and Disbursements to Officers.
The Department proposes two revisions to this schedule. First, the
Department proposes to eliminate functional reporting of union officer
time. This would increase the readability of the form and reduce the
burden on the regulated community. The Form LM-2 requires unions to
report total disbursements in five functional categories and then
itemize those disbursement if they reach a $5,000 threshold. Unions
estimate the time spent by each union officer and employee on different
duties, based on the categories of activities represented by the Form
LM-2 schedules and reported as a percentage of work time, totaling 100
percent. For example, a
[[Page 64740]]
union officer may report that 60 percent of her time went to
``Representational Activities,'' 30 percent went to ``Union
Administration,'' and 10 percent went to ``Political Activities and
Lobbying.'' The Department proposes to eliminate the functional
disbursement categories in the current Schedule 11, but will maintain
the $5,000 threshold. Eliminating functional reporting for union
officers would be accomplished by eliminating Line (I) from Schedule
11--All Officers and Disbursements to Officers.
When the Department imposed this requirement, ``[t]he Department
believe[d] that requiring unions to report the estimated amount of time
expended by their officers and employees will provide useful
information to their members.'' 68 FR 58405. With the benefit of
experience, the Department now understands that functional reporting of
this sort provides the agency little value with respect to enforcing
and administering the LMRDA, as the canvassing of the investigators
revealed. The Department did not foresee that the data would be
difficult to audit.
By removing officer and employee functional reporting, total
disbursements to officers and employees would not show on Statement B.
To address this, the Department proposes to add two new items, in which
these sums would be reported. Item 70--Officers. This item will report
on one line the total disbursed to officers. The software will
automatically enter into this item the total from Schedule 13--All
Officers and Disbursements to Officers. Previously the total from
Schedule 13 was divided among the functional disbursements categories
in proportion to the percentage of time reported to have been spent on
those categories.
Item 71--Employees. This item will report on one line the total
disbursed to employees. The software will automatically enter into this
item the total from Schedule 14--Disbursements to Employees. Previously
the total from Schedule 14 was divided among the functional
disbursements categories in proportion to the percentage of time
reported to have been spent on those categories.
Second, the Department proposes to eliminate the reporting
exception for indirect disbursements for travel-related expenses when
payment is made by the labor organization directly to the provider or
through a credit arrangement. For example, when a union, through its
credit arrangements, is billed directly and pays the airline bills of
an officer, the union currently does not have to include this amount as
part of the disbursements made to the particular officer. See current
Form LM-2 Instructions at p. 18. Eliminating this exception would
provide a more accurate picture of total disbursements received by
labor organization officers and employees.
More specifically, a labor organization does not need to report a
certain type of disbursement in current Schedule 11--All Officers and
Disbursements to Officers. To be specific, a labor organization does
not need to report ``[i]ndirect disbursements for temporary lodging
(room rent charges only) or transportation by public carrier necessary
for conducting official business while the officer is in travel status
away from his or her home and principal place of employment with the
labor organization if payment is made by the labor organization
directly to the provider or through a credit arrangement.'' Current
Form LM-2 Instructions at p. 18.
A ``direct disbursement'' to an officer is a payment made by the
labor organization to the officer in the form of cash, property, goods,
services, or other things of value. An ``indirect disbursement'' to an
officer is a payment made by the labor organization to another party
for cash, property, goods, services, or other things of value received
by or on behalf of the officer. Such payments include those made
through a credit arrangement under which charges are made to the
account of the labor organization and are paid by the labor
organization.
The distinction between reporting of direct and indirect
disbursements has existed for more than 40 years. The distinction,
which was not in the first set of Form LM-2 instructions, was
established because of the difficulties then faced by unions in
reconstructing documentation for certain payments for their prior
fiscal year. Because of this difficulty, organizations were allowed to
report such disbursements as functional expenses of the organization
rather than as disbursements to particular officials. This distinction
remained in the instructions and was not revisited by the Department
despite changes in data reporting and record retention methods over the
intervening decades that substantially reduced the burden of tracking
and reporting disbursements. This issue was not addressed in the 2002-
2003 rulemaking. In the 2009 rulemaking, this exception was eliminated.
See 74 FR 3678, 3687. The Department proposes to again eliminate this
distinction.
That payment for an official's travel and lodging expenses is made
by credit card does not reduce the significance of the expense to a
labor organization member, yet the current Form LM-2 treats the method
of payment as significant. Travel and lodging expenses for a particular
officer may raise questions among the membership for various reasons.
The choice of transportation by public carrier (airplane, train, or
bus) and the level of accommodation (first-class or coach) may be
significant to a member. Lodging choices may run from a motor inn to a
five-star hotel.
Where options are available, the officer's choice of accommodation
may be significant to a member. However, the mode of payment now
controls whether a labor organization member knows the full extent of
disbursements made for a particular official of the labor organization.
Although the specifics of the travel would not appear on the Form LM-2
LF, members would have a better understanding of the total amount of
disbursements made to or on behalf of a particular official. Through
this more complete reporting, members of the labor organization would
be better able to determine whether such disbursements warrant further
scrutiny, including review of the underlying documentation maintained
by the labor organization.
Schedule 12--Disbursements to Employees. Under this schedule, a
labor organization must report all direct and indirect disbursements to
employees of the labor organization during the reporting period. The
union must also report the percentage of time spent by each employee in
provided categories. Disbursements to individuals other than officers
who receive lost time payments are also included even if the labor
organization does not otherwise consider them to be employees or does
not make any other direct or indirect disbursements to them.
The Department proposes to renumber this schedule to Schedule 14--
Disbursements to Employees. The proposed substantive changes to this
schedule are identical to two of the changes to Schedule 11 for all
officers and disbursements to officers, above, and the supporting
reasons for the proposed changes are the same as described above for
those changes. The Department, however, does not propose to obtain
contact information for union employees.
The Department proposes two revisions to this schedule. First, the
Department proposes to eliminate functional reporting of union-employee
time. This would increase the readability of the form and reduce burden
on the regulated community.
[[Page 64741]]
Second, the Department proposes to eliminate a currently available
reporting exception. This exception is for indirect disbursements for
temporary lodging or public transportation necessary for conducting
official business while the employee is in travel status when payment
is made by the labor organization directly to the provider or through a
credit arrangement. See current Form LM-2 Instructions at p.18. This
would provide a more accurate picture of total compensation received by
labor organization employees.
Schedule 13--Membership Status. On Schedule 13, a union currently
must report in Column (A) the categories of membership tracked by the
reporting labor organization. The union must define each category of
membership in Item 69 (Additional Information). The union should
include a description of the members covered by the category and
indicate whether the members pay full dues. In Column (B), the labor
organization must enter the number of members for each of the
membership categories listed in column (A).
The Department proposes to renumber Schedule 13--Membership Status
to Schedule 15-- Membership Status. The union would define each
category of membership in renumbered Item 75 (Additional Information).
The Department also proposes to require reporting of retired
members. Retired members do not necessarily share the same interests
nor have the same voting rights as working members. Separately
identifying this membership status would aid the members in
understanding the composition of their union and assist the Department
when supervising elections.
Detailed Summary Page: The current detailed summary page contains
information from Schedule 14 through Schedule 19. The summary page
provides members with a snapshot of the labor organization's
activities. Members may then use this snapshot to determine whether
further analysis of the individual itemized schedules is required.
There is no burden associated with the summary page because the
software would automatically enter the totals in the appropriate lines
of the summary schedules as the labor organization fills out the
individual itemization schedules.
The proposed detailed summary pages will reflect the order and the
contents of the schedules they summarize. The first set of detailed
summary pages reflect receipts and will consist of Schedule 16--Dues
and Agency Fees (Item 36); Schedule 17--Per Capita Tax (Item 37);
Schedule 18--Fees, Fines, Assessments, Work Permits (Item 38); Schedule
19--Sales of Supplies (Item 39); Schedule 20--Rents (Item 42); Schedule
21--On Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal to Them (Item 47); Schedule
22--From Members for Disbursement on Their Behalf (Item 48); and
Schedule 23--Other Receipts (Item 49).
The second set of detailed summary pages reflect disbursements and
will consist of Schedule 24--Contract Administration and Negotiation
(Item 51); Schedule 25--Organizing (Item 52); Schedule 26--Political
Activities (Item 53); Schedule 27--Lobbying (Item 54); Schedule 28--
Contributions, Gifts, and Grants (Item 55); Schedule 29--General
Overhead (Item 56); and Schedule 30--Union Administration (Item 57).
Schedule 14--Other Receipts. The Department proposes to renumber
this schedule to schedule 23--Other Receipts, with no substantive
change.
Schedule 15--Representational Activities. As discussed above, the
Department proposes to divide Schedule 15--Representational Activities
into two schedules: Schedule 24--Contract Negotiation and
Administration and Schedule 25--Organizing.
Under current Schedule 15--Representational Activities, a labor
organization must report its direct and indirect disbursements to all
entities and individuals during the reporting period associated with
preparation for, and participation in, the negotiation of collective
bargaining agreements and the administration and enforcement of the
agreements made by the labor organization. The union must also report
disbursements associated with efforts to become the exclusive
bargaining representative for any unit of employees, or to keep from
losing a unit in a decertification election or to another labor
organization, or to recruit new members.
The Department proposed in 2002 the use of two schedules, one for
contract negotiation and administration and one for organizing. See 67
FR 79280, 79288 (2002). Specifically, the NPRM proposed a Schedule 15
(Contract Negotiation and Administration) and a separate Schedule 16
(Organizing).
The 2002 proposed schedule for contract negotiation and
administration called for reporting of disbursements for preparation
for, and participation in, the negotiation of collective bargaining
agreements and the administration and enforcement of collective
bargaining agreements, including the administration and arbitration of
union member grievances.
The 2002 proposed schedule for organizing required reporting of
disbursements for activities in connection with becoming the exclusive
bargaining representative for any unit of employees, or to keep from
losing a unit in a decertification election or to another labor
organization, or to recruit new members.
Based on comments received from labor organizations and others, the
Department decided in the 2003 final rule not to include the separate
category for reporting organizing disbursements and to require that
disbursements for organizing be reported in combination with contract
negotiation and administration disbursements in a single Schedule
entitled ``Representational Activities.''
The Department consolidated the two schedules because it agreed
with the commenters that organizing strategies deserve a level of
protection. By combining the categories, the Department also met the
concerns expressed by the building trades unions that they would be
unable to allocate precise amounts to contract negotiations and
organizing efforts. Specifically, several labor organizations,
including the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-
CIO (BCTD), commented that it simply is not possible in the
construction industry to separate disbursements made in connection with
organizing efforts from disbursements made for contract negotiations
and administration.\15\ In this regard, they referred to section 8(f)
of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(f)). This section
provides, inter alia, that it is not an unfair labor practice for a
construction industry employer to enter into pre-hire collective
bargaining agreements with a labor organization whose majority status
has not previously been established and which agreement requires
membership in the union as a condition of employment. In these ``top
down'' bargaining situations, the BCTD explained, the terms and
conditions of employment are negotiated and agreed upon before any
employees express support for or actually become members of the union.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ The BCTD is now known as NABTU, for the North America's
Building Trades Union.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The BCTD and others expressed the view that it is not possible in
these situations to separate disbursements into contract negotiations
differentiated from organizing. Further complicating the situation for
building trades unions, these unions assert, is the fact that often
these same unions also engage in traditional ``bottom up'' organizing.
For such purposes, these unions would have to separately allocate
disbursements for
[[Page 64742]]
organizing and contract negotiations. Several commenters who supported
the proposal to establish the organizing schedule argued that union
members needed detailed information on their union's organizing
activities to enable them to accurately assess their union's overall
success or failure in its organizing efforts. The commenters argued
that if separate allocations cannot be made in the pre-hire situation
arising pursuant to section 8(f) of the NLRA, but separate allocations
could be made for other traditional organizing efforts by the same
union, a member would at best get an incomplete picture and at worst an
inaccurate and misleading impression of the union's disbursements and
overall effectiveness in organizing.
The Department believes it should not have consolidated these two
schedules. Organizing and contract negotiation and administration are
discrete activities. Arguably, one is akin to sales to new customers
and the other to service for existing ones. Contract negotiation and
administration benefit directly the members at the organized worksite.
Organizing may generally strengthen the union but its benefits to the
organized members are attenuated. Union members would benefit from
knowing how much in disbursements goes to organizing, as compared to
how much goes to contract administration and negotiation. Reasonable
minds might differ over which should be the union's priority:
Organizing or contract negotiation and administration. But absent
information as to what balance among the two the union is striking,
debate becomes largely academic. By breaking out these two discrete
activities into two discrete schedules, however, union members can
better determine whether the priorities the union accords to each is
consistent with the opinion of the members.
Contrary to the Department's 2003 conclusion, consolidating into a
single schedule may not be necessary to protect organizing.
Specifically, labor unions currently disclose union organizing activity
on the Form LM-2. Labor unions regularly report itemized disbursements
on organizing activity on Schedule 14--Other Receipts, Schedule 15--
Representational Activities, and Schedule 18--General Overhead. Within
these schedules, Column B requires labor unions to identify the type of
business or job classification of the entity or individual to which the
union disbursed $5,000 or more during the reporting period. In
Schedules 14, 15, and 18, labor unions frequently report ``organizing
services'' as the type of business or job classification to which the
union disbursed funds. Organizing disbursements are already disclosed
by reporting unions.
Furthermore, in 2003 the Department implemented a special procedure
for reporting confidential information on the Form LM-2, which, in
part, was created to protect organizing efforts. When reporting
confidential information labor organizations need not itemize the
receipt or disbursement of certain expenditures that would be adverse
to the union's legitimate interests. Labor unions may use the
confidentiality exemption to avoid itemizing receipts or disbursements
for the following information involving organizing: (1) Information
that would identify individuals paid by the union to work in a non-
union bargaining unit in order to assist the union in organizing
employees, provided that such individuals are not employees of the
union who receive more than $10,000 in the aggregate in the reporting
year from the union and (2) information that would expose the reporting
union's prospective organizing strategy. The confidentiality exemption
provides an additional layer of protection to labor unions from
disclosing itemized disbursements that could be detrimental to the
success of organizing efforts.
In order to minimize any impact of reporting on the success of
organizing efforts, however, neither the name of the employer nor the
specific bargaining unit that is the subject of the organizing activity
would need to be identified in the proposed schedule.
The Department also believes that in 2003 it should have recognized
that a pre-hire agreement is merely a unique form of a collective
bargaining agreement. As with section 9(a) collective bargaining
agreements, a pre-hire agreement is a contract that is the result of a
negotiation between a union and employer, which establishes the terms
and conditions of employment for bargaining unit employees.
The principal difference between the two types of agreements is
that an 8(f) pre-hire agreement permits collective bargaining activity
prior to a union obtaining majority support from employees. In
addition, an employee may be required to join the 8(f) union within
seven days from the start of work.
These distinct qualities of pre-hire agreements show there is
minimal need for a labor union to disburse funds to recruit new members
or become the exclusive bargaining representative by obtaining majority
support of the employees--key characteristics of organizing expenses.
Pre-hire agreements are agreed upon by unions and employers via the
collective bargaining process, not the organizing efforts of a labor
union.
For the purposes of reporting disbursements on the Form LM-2 LF,
the Department proposes that labor unions must consider the negotiation
of 8(f) pre-hire agreements as collective bargaining activity.
Schedule 16--Political Activities and Lobbying. As discussed above,
the Department proposes to divide Schedule 16--Political Activities and
Lobbying into two schedules: Schedule 26-- Political Activities and
Schedule 27--Lobbying.
Under current Schedule 16--Political Activities and Lobbying, the
labor organization must report its direct and indirect disbursements to
all entities and individuals during the reporting period associated
with political disbursements or monetary contributions. A political
disbursement or contribution is one that is intended to influence the
selection, nomination, election, or appointment of anyone to a federal,
state, or local executive, legislative, or judicial public office, or
office in a political organization, or the election of presidential or
vice presidential electors, and support for or opposition to ballot
referenda. It does not matter whether the attempt succeeds. The labor
organization must include disbursements for communications with members
(or agency fee paying nonmembers) and their families for registration,
get-out-the vote, and voter education campaigns; the expenses of
establishing, administering, and soliciting contributions to union
segregated political funds (or PACs); disbursements to political
organizations as defined by the IRS in 26 U.S.C. 527; and other
political disbursements.
Political activities differ considerably from lobbying in terms of
their purpose and their significance to union members. Political
activities, in the form of campaign contributions, may be more likely
to be subject to abuse because of the amount of money changing hands.
It further stands to reason that there may be internal, and rank-and-
file, disagreements with union-backed political positions on
candidates. Cf. Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31, 138 S. Ct. 2448, 2461
(2018) (``Janus refused to join the Union because he opposes many of
the policy positions that it advocates'' (internal punctuation
omitted)). Combining lobbying with political activities masks the total
spent on lobbying and the total spent on political activity and
campaigning. If a union spends $1,000,000 on lobbying and political
activities, the $1,000,000
[[Page 64743]]
could be perceived or characterized by the union as monies well spent
on representing members. The union might not be able to make that
argument, however, if it spent $50,000 on lobbying and $950,000 on
political activity.
Lobbying is more germane to the core function of a labor
organization: improving working conditions. Members have the right to
know how much of their dues monies are going to political activities
and how much are going to lobbying. The current consolidated schedule
obscures this information, to the detriment of interested union
members.
The 2002 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which introduced functional
reporting categories, proposed to have separate schedules for political
activities and lobbying. Upon review of the comments received, the
Department instead combined the categories in its final rule. 68 FR
58374, 58397 (2005). One reason for combining the two categories was a
prediction that little money would otherwise be reported in each
schedule: ``Further, the Department's decision to combine the two
Schedules will increase the likelihood that the Schedule will be used
to report a sufficient amount of information to prove useful to union
members.'' Id. at 58398. This prediction proved untrue. The total
amount of disbursements reported in Schedule 16--Political Activities
and Lobbying for all FY16 filers was $741,357,982. For FY17, the total
was $628,643,192. For FY18, the figure was $747,169,805. In a review of
20 major unions, several unions reported spending more on political
activities and lobbying than on union administration. These 20 unions
spent $218,205,729 on political activities and lobbying, while spending
$155,815,458 on contributions, gifts, and grants, and $281,824,428 on
union administration. One union reported spending more on political
activities and lobbying, $17,764,359, than on representational
activities, $3,791.442. All told, 9.7 percent of the spending on the
five functional categories (Representational Activities; Political
Activities and Lobbying; Contributions, Gifts, and Grants; General
Overhead, and Union Administration) of these 20 unions was spent on
political activities and lobbying. There are strong indications,
therefore, that substantial sums are disbursed for political activities
and for lobbying.
The 2003 final rule also chose to consolidate into a single
schedule the two activities because requiring the separate reporting of
``political activity'' and ``lobbying'' is made difficult by the
requirement that time estimates of union officials be recorded in 10
percent increments of total work time. 68 FR 58398.This objection is no
longer well-founded because the Department proposes to eliminate
functional reporting of union officer and union employee time.
The Department based its previous decision to consolidate the
schedule on the perception that distinguishing between ``political
activities,'' in the election-specific sense of that term, and
``lobbying'' is ``not always easy.'' 68 FR 58398. The Department still
agrees with this sentiment, but now posits that it cuts in favor of
dividing the schedules. Having reviewed the ``purpose'' line of
numerous reports over the years, the Department has found that the
purpose and nature of the disbursement are often not discernable. A
union member's inability to determine the purpose of an expenditure and
whether an expenditure is lobbying or political activity is a failure
of transparency that this proposed rule would address. As between the
union and its members, the union is in a better position to know and
disclose the nature of the disbursement. Additionally, separate regimes
exist for reporting political activities versus lobbying activities at
both the state and federal level showing that these categories are in
fact distinct and could be separated for reporting purposes.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ A 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization is subject to
restrictions on lobbying and political activities. 26 U.S.C.
501(c)(3). Engaging in any political activities may result in
revocation of tax-exempt status, and imposition of certain excise
taxes. Lobbying may not represent a ``substantial part'' of the
activities of an organization exempt under Section 501(c)(3). Under
the substantial part test, codified in part in Section 1.501(c)(3)-
1(c)(3)(ii) of the Treasury Regulations, an organization's tax-
exempt status will not be at risk because of lobbying unless it
exceeds the ``substantial part'' limitation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal law treats lobbying as a discrete activity. At the federal
level, the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) imposes registration and
reporting obligations on individuals and entities that lobby various
federal officials once certain thresholds have been exceeded. 2 U.S.C.
1601 et seq. The LDA applies to any entity that lobbies, whether
501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), union or for-profit. The term ``lobbying
activities'' means lobbying contacts and efforts in support of such
contacts, including preparation and planning activities, research, and
other background work that is intended, at the time it is performed,
for use in contacts, and coordination with the lobbying activities of
others. 2 U.S.C. 1602(7). The term ``lobbying contact'' means any oral
or written communication (including an electronic communication) to a
covered executive branch official or a covered legislative branch
official that is made on behalf of a client with regard to--(i) the
formulation, modification, or adoption of federal legislation
(including legislative proposals); (ii) the formulation, modification,
or adoption of a federal rule, regulation, Executive Order, or any
other program, policy, or position of the United States Government;
(iii) the administration or execution of a federal program or policy
(including the negotiation, award, or administration of a federal
contract, grant, loan, permit, or license); or (iv) the nomination or
confirmation of a person for a position subject to confirmation by the
Senate. 2 U.S.C. 1602(8). As labor organizations already must
separately report lobbying activities under the LDA, they should be
able to separate out this activity from other activities, like
political activities.
Schedule 17--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants. The schedule would
be renumbered to Schedule 28--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants, with no
substantive changes.
Schedule 18--General Overhead. The schedule would be renumbered to
Schedule 29-- General Overhead, with no substantive changes.
Schedule 19--Union Administration. The schedule would be renumbered
to Schedule 30-- Union Administration, with no substantive changes.
Schedule 20--Benefits. The schedule would be renumbered to Schedule
31--Benefits. The schedule would no longer contain benefits information
for union officers and union employees, as this information would
appear next to their names, as discussed above, in proposed Schedule
11--All Officers and Disbursements to Officers and proposed Schedule
12--Disbursements to Employees.
New Schedules. The Department proposes to add new schedules that
coincide with the items of cash receipts listed on Statement B--
Receipts and Disbursements. These schedules represent new requirements
that labor organizations itemize the individual categories of receipts
aggregated to $5,000 from any one source. The labor organization would
be required to complete a separate itemization schedule for each
individual or entity from which the labor organization has received
$5,000 or more. Each transaction from that individual or entity would
be accompanied by information about the individual, the purpose of the
payment, the date of the payment, and the amount of the payment. The
total amount received from the individual or entity, both itemized and
non-itemized, would be
[[Page 64744]]
included at the bottom of the itemized schedule. The totals from each
itemized schedule would then be added together and that number would be
entered in the appropriate item on Statement B.
These proposed additional schedules correspond to the following
categories of receipts:
Dues and Agency Fees (Item 36);
Per Capita Tax (Item 37);
Fees, Fines, Assessments, Work Permits (Item 38);
Sales of Supplies (Item 39);
Rents (Item 42);
On Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal to Them (Item 47);
and
From Members for Disbursement on Their Behalf (Item 48).
These schedules will provide additional information, by these
receipt categories, of aggregated receipts of $5,000 or more. This
proposed change is consistent with the information currently provided
on disbursements.
Currently, Form LM-2 filers report on Statement B only the total
amount received from dues and agency fees; per capita taxes; fees,
fines, assessments, work permits; sales of supplies; interest;
dividends; rents; receipts on behalf of affiliates for transmittal to
them; and receipts from members for disbursement on their behalf. In
some instances, these line items exceed $30 million. For example, one
labor organization stated that it received over $298 million in per
capita taxes and another received over $33 million in rent. Little
useful information can be discerned from these totals alone. The new
Form LM-2 LF would require itemization of certain of these categories
from the largest unions.
The lack of itemization of most receipts on the current Form LM-2
makes it easier for wrongdoers to embezzle money from labor
organization accounts. In one case, an eight-count felony indictment
charged a union treasurer with taking the union's dues checks from the
employer of the union members. Instead of depositing the checks into
the union's bank account, the union treasurer endorsed the checks and
deposited them into his own personal bank account under false
pretenses. According to the indictment, the combined value of the
property stolen amounted to $18,720. Even if the individual checks had
been in amounts of $5,000 or more, however, rank and file members would
have been unable to detect the conversion because the current Form LM-2
requires the disclosure of only the yearly total received in dues
checks, not the reporting of individual checks received from employers.
The proposed form would contain itemized information for each check
that is $5,000 or more and disclose whether other checks aggregate to
$5,000 or more. If receipt checks, either alone or in combination,
aggregate to $5,000 or more, the labor organization would disclose this
on the form. The change would address this problem, which extends to
all the various reporting categories on the current form and not merely
the receipt of dues payments, because now receipts-side embezzlements
would be harder to hide.
By providing itemization of receipts, labor organizations would
better disclose to their members and the public a full accounting of
all funds received and the identity of individuals and entities with
whom the labor organization does business. The Department could use
this information to determine the purpose of any receipt from one
source in an amount of $5,000 or more. Knowing the purpose of a receipt
would help identify possible diversion. Labor organization members
could ensure that money they paid to the organization for disbursements
on their behalf is accounted for on the Form LM-2 LF. If there is no
itemized receipt in new Schedule 22--From Members for Disbursement on
their Behalf for payments of $5,000 or more or the receipt is less than
expected, then the member would know that the money was not properly
reported and may pursue other avenues to determine what has happened to
the funds. The new Schedules 16 through 22 would be as follows:
Schedule 16--Dues and Agency Fees (new schedule);
Schedule 17--Per Capita Tax (new schedule);
Schedule 18--Fees, Fines, Assessments, and Work Permits (new
schedule);
Schedule 19--Sale of Supplies (new schedule);
Schedule 20--Rents (new schedule);
Schedule 21--Receipts on Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal to
Them (new schedule); and
Schedule 22--Receipts from Members for Disbursement on Their Behalf
(new schedule).
Under the current Form LM-2, receipts listed under the above-listed
categories on Statement B are not itemized on a separate schedule for
aggregate amounts that meet or exceed the threshold. The only itemized
receipts are ``Other Receipts.'' ``Other Receipts'' that meet or exceed
the threshold are itemized on the current Schedule 14. Proposed
Schedules 16 through 22 would include the same information that is
currently required on Schedule 14 for ``Other Receipts.''
New Schedule 32--Foreign Transactions. The Department seeks comment
on whether to establish a Schedule 32--Foreign Transactions on the Form
LM-2 LF if the labor union engages in a transaction with a foreign
entity or a foreign individual. The labor organization would report any
individual receipt of $5,000 or more, or total receipts from any single
entity or individual that aggregate to $5,000 or more during the
reporting period, derived from a foreign entity or individual. These
transactions would also appear in the functional categories of
Schedules 24 through 31 but this schedule would permit the union
members to know whether the union is conducting transactions with
foreign entities or individuals. It is a growing concern for many
American workers to have their jobs outsourced overseas. Union members
and prospective members have a right to know if their collective
bargaining representative has an interest in a non-American workforce.
In 2019 alone, one national union sent $931,830 to unions, law firms,
and consultants at foreign addresses. Although the payees were
identified by functional category, there is not one single location
where a union member can find out whether the labor union is engaging
in significant foreign transactions.\17\ The Department requests
comments from interested parties in union transactions with foreign
entities or individuals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\17\ Form 990, Schedule F, is used by an organization that files
Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, to provide
information on its activities conducted outside the United States by
the organization at any time during the tax year. Activities
conducted outside the United States include grants and other
assistance, program-related investments, fundraising activities,
unrelated trade or business, program services, investments, or
maintaining offices, employees, or agents for the purpose of
conducting any such activities in regions outside the United States.
See Instructions for Form 990, Schedule F.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The confidentiality exemption. Additionally, the Department
requests comments on whether to modify, narrow, or eliminate the
confidentiality exception in the Form LM-2 instructions. Currently, the
following information is subject to special reporting privileges under
the confidentiality exception: (1) Information that would identify
individuals paid by the union to work in a non-union facility in order
to assist the union in organizing employees, provided that such
individuals are not employees of the union who receive more than
$10,000 in the aggregate from the union in the reporting year; (2)
information that would expose the reporting union's prospective
organizing
[[Page 64745]]
strategy; (3) information that would provide a tactical advantage to
parties with whom the reporting union or an affiliated union is engaged
or would be engaged in contract negotiations; (4) information pursuant
to a settlement that is subject to a confidentiality agreement, or that
the union is otherwise prohibited by law from disclosing; and (5)
information in those situations where disclosure would endanger the
health or safety of an individual. If the receipt or disbursement fits
within one of the above broad categories, then the labor organization
need not itemize the receipt or disbursement. Instead it may include
the receipt or disbursement in the aggregated total on Line 3 of
Summary Schedules 23--Other Receipts, 24--Contract Negotiations and
Administration, 25--Organizing, or 30--Union Administration, as
appropriate.
There are legitimate reasons why a union may wish to utilize these
five categories. But the current broad confidentiality exception makes
it impossible to ascertain from reviewing the form the actual purpose
and payer/payee of many receipts and disbursements. For example, one
labor organization did not identify the name of the payee, date of
disbursement, or the amount of the transaction for more than 46 percent
of its disbursements. This labor organization reported $5,931,513 in
disbursements on Schedule 15, Line 5 (All Other Disbursements). In Item
69, the labor organization stated that it had excluded certain
confidential information from Schedule 15, but included the information
in the totals. This same labor organization's total disbursements were
$12,811,076. On a related matter, the Department's review of Form LM-2
filings has found that many major receipts and disbursements that do
not qualify for the confidentiality exception, 68 FR 58499-500, are
being included on Line 3 (total All Other Receipts) of Summary Schedule
14--Other Receipts or on Line 5 (total All Other Disbursements) of
Summary Schedules 15--Representational Activities or 19--Union
Administration. Labor organizations are usually describing the general
type of information that was omitted from the schedule in Item 69--
Additional Information, but the name of the payer/payee, date, and
amount of the transaction(s) are not included. A member now can obtain
specific information about these confidential transactions only by
requesting such information directly from the labor organization.
The Department seeks comment on whether all transactions greater
than $5,000 should be identified by amount and date in the relevant
schedules. If, on the other hand, a confidentiality exemption should be
retained, the Department seeks comments on the scope of the exemption.
Commenters can provide their views on whether the five current
categories should be retained in their current form, modified, or
eliminated.
Employer Identification Number. The Department invites comment on
whether to require the disclosure of the EIN for vendors that received
payments that trigger itemized disclosure ($5,000 or more) on new
schedules 24 through 30. This would require an additional column on
these schedules and would give the Department and the members
visibility into year-over-year payments to the same organizations. The
use of ``Doing Business As'' designations and name changes would no
longer hinder a member from determining the union's involvement with
the same vendors year after year. It would allow a member to determine
whether a vendor or payee is a business affiliated with a union
officer, for example, because the business could be identified.
Whistleblower Provisions. The Department seeks comment on whether
to add an item asking, ``Does the Organization have a written
whistleblower policy?'' to the informational items. Federal law
prohibits tax exempt organizations from retaliating against employees
who expose wrongdoing with regard to their employer's financial
management and accounting practices. In Form 990, the IRS asks if the
organization has written policies on the handling of whistleblowers.
See Exempt Organizations Annual Reporting Requirements--Governance
(Form 990, Part VI). Many states have also enacted laws to protect
whistleblowers from retaliation at the workplace.\18\ Employers,
including labor organizations, benefit from a process for addressing
complaints, as it provides an opportunity for the union to improve its
practices. Also, adopting a whistleblower protection policy signals to
employees and to union members that the union values transparency and
accountability. The Department generally invites comments on whether
other good governance questions should be asked.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ See e.g., Ala. Code Sec. Sec. 25-8-57, 36-26A-1 to -26A-7;
Alaska Stat. Ann. Sec. Sec. 18.60.089, 18.60.095, 39.90.100-150;
Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. Sec. Sec. 23-425, 38-531-534; Ark. Code Ann.
Sec. 16-123-108; Cal. Lab. Code Sec. 1102.5-1106; Colo. Rev. Stat.
Sec. Sec. 24-50.5-101 to -107, 24-114-101 to-103; Conn. Gen. Stat.
Sec. Sec. 4-61dd(e), 31-51m; Del. Code Ann. Sec. Sec. 5115, 1701-
1708; Fla. Stat. Sec. Sec. 112.3187-.31895; Ga. Code Ann. Sec. 45-
1-4; Haw. Rev. Stat. Sec. Sec. 378-61 to -69; Idaho Code Ann. Sec.
6-2101 to -2109; 20 Ill. Comp. Stat. 415/19c.1, 740 Ill. Comp. Stat.
174/10-174/40; Ind. Code Sec. Sec. 4-15-10-4, 22-5-3-3, 36-1-8-8;
Iowa Code Ann. Sec. Sec. 70A.28-.29; Kan. Stat. Ann. Sec. 75-2973;
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. Sec. Sec. 61.101-.103, 338.121, 338.991; La.
Rev. Stat. Sec. Sec. 30:2027, 42:1169; Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 26
Sec. Sec. 831-840; Md. Code Ann. State Personnel and Pensions
Sec. Sec. 5-301 to -314, State Finance and Procurement Sec. 11-301
to -306; Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149 Sec. 185; Mich. Comp. Laws Sec.
15.361-.369; Miss. Code Ann. Sec. Sec. 25-9-171 to -177; Mo. Rev.
Stat. Sec. 105.055; Neb. Rev. Stat. Sec. Sec. 81-2701 to -2711,
48-1114; Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. Sec. 281.611-.671, 618.445; N.H. Rev.
Stat. Ann. Sec. Sec. 98-E:1-4, 275-E:1-9; N.J. Stat. Ann.
Sec. Sec. 34:19-1 to -14; N.M. Stat. Ann. Sec. 50- 9-25, 10-16C-1
to -6; N.Y. Labor Law Sec. Sec. 740, 741, N.Y. Civ. Serv. Law Sec.
75-b(2); N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. Sec. 126-84 to -88; N.D. Cent. Code
Sec. 34-11.1-04; Ohio Rev. Code Sec. Sec. 124.341, 4113.52; Okla.
Stat. tit. 74 Sec. 840-2.5; Or. Rev. Stat. Sec. Sec. 654.062,
659A.199-.236; R.I. Gen. Laws Sec. Sec. 28-50-1 to -9; S.C. Code
Ann. Sec. Sec. 8-27-10 to -60, 41-15-510 to -520; Tenn. Code Ann.
Sec. Sec. 50-1-304, 50-3-106, 50-3-106, 8-50-116; Tex. Gov't Code
Ann. Sec. Sec. 554.001-.010, Tex. Lab. Code Ann. Sec. 21.055; Utah
Code Ann. Sec. Sec. 67-21-1 to -10; Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 3,
Sec. Sec. 971-978, tit. 21, Sec. 231; Wash. Rev. Code Sec. Sec.
42.40.010-.910, 49.60.210(2); W. Va. Code Sec. 6C-1-1 to -8, 21-3A-
13; Wis. Stat. Sec. Sec. 230.80-.89; Wyo. Stat. Ann. Sec. Sec. 9-
11-103, 27-11-109(e). See Robert J. Nobile, Human Resources Guide,
Sec. 5:169 (selected state whistleblower statutes) (July 2020
update).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D. Proposed Revisions to Form LM-2
To increase transparency, the Department proposes revisions to the
Form LM-2, which would be applicable to labor organization with annual
receipts of $250,000 to $7,999,999. Many of the changes and rationale
mirror those of the Form LM-2 LF, described above. For brevity, the
Department refers to those changes and rationales, and incorporates
them by reference, rather than repeating them verbatim.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\19\ The Department notes below where variations between the
proposed Form LM-2 LF and the proposed Form LM-2 exist.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Form LM-2, the Department proposes to add ``(d)
TRUSTEESHIP'' with a checkbox to Item 3. The checkbox would indicate
that the report is being filed by a labor organization for a
subordinate labor organization that it has placed in trusteeship.
With regard to Item 10--Trust or Other Fund, the Department
proposes to redesignate the current Item 10 as Item 10(a).
The Department also proposes a new Item 10(b), concerning payments
from more than one union. Item 10(b) would ask whether, during the
reporting period, an officer or employee who was paid $10,000 or more
by the reporting organization also received $10,000 or more as an
officer or employee of another labor organization in gross salary,
allowances, and other direct and indirect disbursements during the
reporting period. If the answer is ``Yes,'' the labor organization
would provide
[[Page 64746]]
additional information in Item 75--Additional Information. This
additional information would require the union to list the name of the
officer, amount paid, entity that made the payment, and file number of
the entity.
The Department proposes to revise Item 13 (Losses or Shortages) to
clarify that reporting is required if the filer is aware the labor
organization has experienced and/or discovered a shortage of funds.
Currently Item 13 asks, ``During the reporting period did the labor
organization discover any loss or shortage of funds or other assets?''
As revised, Item 13 would provide, ``During the reporting period did
the labor organization experience and/or discovered any loss or
shortage of funds or other assets?''
With regard to Item 18 (Changes in Constitution and Bylaws), the
Department proposes to redesignate the current Item 18 as Item 18(a).
The Department proposes a new Item 18(b). This item would require labor
organizations to provide the dates of their constitution and bylaws.
Statement A--Assets and Liabilities
Items 22 through 35 listed under Statement A--Assets and
Liabilities will adopt the same schedules proposed in the LM-2 LF.
Statement B--Receipts and Disbursements
With regard to Items 36 through 50 listed under ``Cash Receipts,''
the Department does not propose additional schedules to those items
that currently do not have schedules. This will avoid imposing the
burden of itemizing cash receipts on smaller unions, which have fewer
resources to invest in tracking and reporting financial information.
However, items with schedules will adopt the schedule numbers proposed
in the LM-2 LF.
The Department proposes to divide Item 43--Sale of Investments and
Fixed Assets into two items. Item 43 would be renamed Item 43--Sale of
Investments. Item 43 is currently supported by Schedule 3--Sale of
Investments and Fixed Assets. It would be supported by a new Schedule
3--Sale of Investments. The Department proposes a new Item 44--Sale of
Fixed Assets, which would be supported by a new Schedule 4--Sale of
Fixed Assets.
On Schedule 3--Sale of Investments, labor organizations would
report receipts from the sale of investments. On, Schedule 4--Sale of
Fixed Assets, the labor organization would report receipts from the
sale of fixed assets.
In the new Schedule 3--Sale of Investments, the Department proposes
to add two new columns. The first new column, entitled ``Name and
Address of Purchaser or Financial Management Firm (A),'' would disclose
the purchasers of investments from the labor organization. A second
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the sale. The other
existing columns would remain the same but would be designated with
different letters. The columns would thus read, in order, ``Name and
Address of Purchaser or Financial Management Firm (A); Description (B);
Date of Sale (C); Cost (D); Book Value (E); Gross Sales Price (F); and
Amount Received (G).''
The Department proposes to add two new columns to new Schedule 4--
Sale of Fixed Assets. The first new column entitled ``Name and Address
of Purchaser (A)'' would disclose the purchasers of fixed assets from
the labor organization. A second column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the
date of the sale. The columns would thus read ``Name and Address of
Purchaser (A); Description (if land or buildings, give location) (B);
Date of Sale (C); Cost (D); Book Value (E); Gross Sales Price (F); and
Amount Received (G).'' With regard to fixed assets, the Department
proposes that the union would be required to identify automobiles
individually by make, model, year, and Vehicle Identification Number
(VIN). This information would be listed under existing Column A
(Description).
Proposed Items 51 through 72 listed under ``Cash Disbursements''
will adopt the same schedules proposed in the LM-2 LF, except where
indicated below.
The Department proposes to divide Item 50--Representational
Activities into two items. Item 50 would be renumbered Item 51 and
renamed Item 51--Contract Negotiation and Administration. There would
be a new Item 52--Organizing. The schedule, currently numbered Schedule
15, would be split in two and renumbered Schedule 17 and Schedule 18.
The first would be designated Schedule 17--Contract Negotiation and
Administration. The second would be Schedule 18--Organizing.
The Department proposes to divide Item 51--Political Activities and
Lobbying into two items. Item 51 would be renumbered Item 53 and
renamed Item 53--Political Activities. There would be a new Item 54--
Lobbying. Current Schedule 16--Political Activities and Lobbying would
be split. It would be replaced by a new Schedule 19--Political
Activities and a new Schedule 20--Lobbying. On Schedule 19, labor
organizations would report disbursements for political activities. On
Schedule 20, the labor organization would report lobbying
disbursements.
The Department proposes no substantive change to Item 52, which
would be renumbered Item 55--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants. This
item was previously supported by Schedule 17 and would now be supported
by renumbered Schedule 21--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants, without
substantive change.
The Department proposes no substantive change to Item 53, which
would be renumbered Item 56--General Overhead. This item was previously
supported by Schedule 18 and would now be supported by renumbered
Scheduled 22--General Overhead, without substantive change.
The Department proposes no substantive change to Item 54, which
would be renumbered Item 57--Union Administration. This item was
previously supported by Schedule 19 and would now be supported by
renumbered Schedule 23--Union Administration, without substantive
change.
Item 55 would be renumbered Item 58--Benefits, and not
substantively changed. This item was previously supported by Schedule
20 and would now be supported by renumbered Schedule 24--Benefits,
without substantive change.
The Department proposes to divide Item 60--Purchase of Investments
and Fixed Assets into two items: Item 63--Purchase of Investments and
Item 64--Purchase of Fixed Assets. The Department proposes to divide
Schedule 4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets into two. The
first would be a new Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments. The second
would be a new Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed Assets.
The Department proposes to add two new columns to new Schedule 5--
Purchase of Investments. The first new column entitled ``Name and
Address of Seller or Financial Management Firm (A)'' would disclose the
identity of the seller of investments to the labor organization. A
second column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the purchase. The
other columns ((Cost (B); Book Value (C); Gross Sales Price (D); and
Amount Received (E)) would remain the same but would be designated with
different letters, to accommodate the two new columns. The columns
would thus read ``Name and Address of seller or Financial Management
Firm (A); Description (B); Date of Purchase (C); Cost (D); Book Value
(E); Gross Sales Price (F); Cash Paid (G).''
[[Page 64747]]
The Department proposes to add two new columns to Schedule 6--
Purchase of Fixed Assets. The first new column entitled ``Name and
Address of Purchaser (A)'' would disclose the identity of the seller of
investments to the labor organization. A second column ``Date (C)''
would disclose the date of the purchase. The columns would thus read
``Name and Address of Seller (A); Description (if land or buildings,
give location) (B); Date of Purchase (C); Cost (D); Book Value (E);
Gross Sales Price (F); and Amount Received (G).'' The Department
proposes that the union would be required to identify automobiles
individually by make, model, year, and Vehicle Identification Number
(VIN). This information would be listed under existing Column A
(Description).
Schedule 11--All Officers and Disbursements to Officers would be
renumbered Schedule 13-- All Officers and Disbursements to Officers. In
this schedule, the Department proposes to eliminate functional
reporting of union officer time by removing Line (I).
Schedule 12--Disbursements to Employees will be renumbered Schedule
14--Disbursements to Employees. The Department proposes to eliminate
functional reporting of union employee time by removing Line (I).
The Department also proposes to renumber Schedule 13--Membership
Status to Schedule 15--Membership Status. The Department proposes to
require reporting of retired members.
The confidentiality exemption. Similar to the discussion above, in
section C. Proposed Form LM-2 LF the Department requests comments on
whether modify, narrow, or eliminate the confidentiality exemption in
the Form LM-2 instructions. The Department seeks comment on whether all
transactions greater than $5,000 should be identified by amount and
date in the relevant schedules. If, on the other hand, a
confidentiality exemption should be retained, the Department seeks
comments on the scope of the exemption. Commenters can provide their
views on whether the five current categories should be retained in
their current form, modified, or eliminated.
Filing Threshold. The Department seeks comment on whether to raise
the threshold for filing the Form LM-2 from its current $250,000 level.
Shortly after the LMRDA was enacted in 1959, the threshold for filing
the Form LM-2 was set by the Secretary at $20,000. The threshold was
raised by the Secretary in 1962 to $30,000 and again in 1981 to
$100,000. It was set at $250,000 by regulation in 2003. If any of these
levels were now adjusted for inflation, the amount would be greater
than the current threshold of $250,000. The Department seeks comment on
whether to raise the threshold to $300,000. Although the overwhelming
majority (78.5%) of all reporting labor organizations are currently
exempt from filing Form LM-2, changing the threshold to $300,000 would
reduce the recordkeeping and reporting burden for approximately 273
labor organizations. Taking such action, would however, reduce the
amount of information available to their 441,247 members.
The Department will continue its past practice of periodically
assessing the appropriateness of the filing threshold to ensure that it
is relevant in terms of the current economy and universe of labor
organizations. The Department invites comments on the proposal to raise
the threshold for filing the Form LM-2 to $300,000.
E. Effective Date
The Department proposes that its rule take effect 30 days after
publication and apply prospectively to labor organizations' fiscal
years beginning on or after the effective date of a final rule
promulgated after this notice of proposed rulemaking.
IV. Regulatory Procedures
Executive Orders 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) and 13563
(Improving Regulation and Review)
Under Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB)'s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)
determines whether a regulatory action is significant and, therefore,
subject to the requirements of the E.O. and OMB review.\20\ Section
3(f) of E.O. 12866 defines a ``significant regulatory action'' as an
action that is likely to result in a rule that (1) has an annual effect
on the economy of $100 million or more, or adversely affects in a
material way a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs,
the environment, public health or safety, or state, local, or tribal
governments or communities (also referred to as economically
significant); (2) creates serious inconsistency or otherwise interferes
with an action taken or planned by another agency; (3) materially
alters the budgetary impacts of entitlement grants, user fees, or loan
programs, or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or (4)
raises novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the
President's priorities, or the principles set forth in the E.O. OMB has
determined that this rule is significant under section 3(f) of E.O.
12866.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\20\ See 58 FR 51735 (October 4, 1993).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
E.O. 13563 directs agencies to propose or adopt a regulation only
upon a reasoned determination that its benefits justify its costs; the
regulation is tailored to impose the least burden on society,
consistent with achieving the regulatory objectives; and in choosing
among alternative regulatory approaches, the agency has selected those
approaches that maximize net benefits. E.O. 13563 recognizes that some
benefits are difficult to quantify and provides that, where appropriate
and permitted by law, agencies may consider and discuss qualitatively
values that are difficult or impossible to quantify, including equity,
human dignity, fairness, and distributive impacts.
A. Background and Need for Regulatory Action
Every labor organization subject to the LMRDA, the Civil Service
Reform Act (CSRA) standards of conduct regulations, or the Foreign
Service Act (FSA) must file a financial report, Forms LM-2, LM-3, or
LM-4 Labor Organization Annual Report. The three forms vary in the
level of financial details that must be reported. The filing
requirements are determined by the total annual receipts of the union.
The Forms LM-2, LM-3, and LM-4 Labor Organization Annual Report serve
as the primary means by which the operations of unions can be monitored
by union members and the general public. Accordingly, the Forms LM-2,
LM-3, and LM-4 Labor Organization Annual Report are essential to the
Department's enforcement, research, and policy formulation programs and
are a source of information and data for use by other federal agencies,
Congress, and the private sector in assessing union economic trends and
policies.
As discussed earlier in this preamble, the Forms were last revised
in 2003. The revisions to the Form LM-2 made by the Department in 2003
helped to fulfill the LMRDA's reporting mandate. However, based upon
the Department's experience since 2003 and after input from OLMS field
offices, the Department believes that further modifications to Form LM-
2 and the introduction of the Form LM-2 LF are necessary. The proposed
enhancements, as more fully described elsewhere in this preamble, would
ensure that information is reported in such a way as to meet the
objectives of the LMRDA by providing labor organization members with
useful data that will enable them to be responsible and effective
participants in the democratic governance of their labor organizations.
The proposed changes are
[[Page 64748]]
designed to provide the Department, members of labor organizations, and
the public with additional and more detailed information about the
financial activities of labor organizations than is available through
the current reporting.
B. Costs of the Form LM-2 LF and LM-2 Reports for Labor Organizations
As discussed below in the Paperwork Reduction Act section, the
Forms LM-2 LF, and LM-2 reports will be filed by existing Forms LM-2
report filing labor organizations. The Department estimates that it
receives annually 4,850 Form LM-2 reports. The proposed rule would not
add any new filing labor organizations to this universe, although the
Department does expect to see a change in the number of Form LM-2
reports received, with the addition of the Form LM-2 LF for those
filers with total annual receipts of $8 million or more. The Department
expects to see a decrease in Form LM-2 reports, to 4,440 reports, since
410 of the current Form LM-2 reports derive from filers with $8 million
or more in total annual receipts. Consequently, the Department expects
to see 410 Form LM-2 LF and 4,440 Form LM-2 reports.
In the first year, the Department estimates that all 4,850 filers,
including both the 410 Form LM-2 LF filers, who were previously
required to file a Form LM-2, and the remaining 4,440 LM-2 filers will
spend 15 minutes familiarizing themselves with the revised and new
forms.\21\ They will also face 32.5 hours in nonrecurring recordkeeping
burden and 44.3 in nonrecurring reporting burden hours, in order to
adapt accounting systems for new and revised schedules.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\21\ In estimating ``familiarization'' time, an individual is
not expected to read the instructions to the form, which would take
more than 15 minutes. Rather, the individual would need only
determine what the rule does, generally, and whether it applies to a
particular organization. This information will be easily gleaned
from the OLMS website and other compliance assistance materials. The
non-recurring reporting and recordkeeping burden (e.g., for the LM-2
LF, the 32.5 hours in nonrecurring recordkeeping burden and 44.3 in
nonrecurring reporting burden hours) would include time reading the
instructions.
\22\ For more details, see the Paperwork Reduction Act section
below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On an annual basis, including the first year, the 410 Form LM-2 LF
filers will spend an additional 66.5 hours on average filing the new
Form LM-2 LF. The remaining 4,440 Form LM-2 filers, who will continue
to file a Form LM-2, will spend an additional 16.5 hours on average
annually filing the revised Form LM-2.
Using FY 18 Form LM-2 filings, inflated to 2019 dollars,\23\ and
2019 BLS statistics,\24\ the weighted average hourly wage for Form LM-2
filers includes: $38.23 for an accountant, $20.65 for a bookkeeper or
clerk, $25.85 for a Form LM-2 filing union secretary-treasurer or
treasurer, and $30.03 for the Form LM-2 filing president, respectively.
The weighted average hourly wage is $36.77.\25\ To account for fringe
benefits and overhead costs, as well as any other unknown costs or
increases in the wage average, the average hourly wage has been
multiplied by 1.63, so the fully loaded hourly wage is $59.94 ($36.77 x
1.63).\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\23\ According to the Employment Cost Index, total compensation
increased by approximately 2.8 percent annually from 2018 to 2019,
see https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CIU1010000000000A.
\24\ See 2019 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data available
at: https://www.bls.gov/oes/2019/may/oes_nat.htm.
\25\ The weighted average calculates the wage rate per hour
weighted according to the percentage of time that the Form LM-2's
completion will demand of each official/employee: 90 percent of the
Form LM-2 burden hours will be completed by an accountant, 5 percent
by the bookkeeper, 4 percent by the union's treasurer/secretary-
treasurer, and 1 percent by the union president.
\26\ The use of 1.63 accounts for 17 percent for overhead and 46
percent for fringe. In the case of the 46 percent for fringe, see
the following link to BLS data showing that wages and salaries
represent 68.6 percent (.686) of compensation (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t02.htm). Dividing total compensation by the 68.6
percent represented by wages and salaries is equivalent to a 1.46
multiplier. Adding a 17 percent multiplier (.17) for overhead equals
1.63.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applying the above average wage rates to the burden hour changes,
the Department estimates that the new Form LM-2 LF will produce
$3,527,799 in new costs during the first year and $1,634,264 in new
costs each subsequent year. For the revised Form LM-2, the Department
estimates that filers will incur $24,896,798 in new costs during the
first year and $4,391,204 in new costs each subsequent year.
C. Summary of Costs
The Department projects that this rule will produce total first-
year costs of $28,424,597 and total subsequent year costs of
$6,025,469. The Department projects that the 10-year annualized cost
will be $8,574,848 using a 3 percent discount rate and $9,005,965 using
a 7 percent discount rate. As required under E.O. 13771, the Department
projects that the annualized perpetual cost in 2016 dollars using a 7
percent discount rate is $5,027,703 beginning in 2021.
D. Benefits
As explained more fully elsewhere in the preamble to this proposed
rulemaking, the Department proposes enhancements to the Form LM-2, and
proposes to introduce the Form LM-2 LF, to provide additional
information to labor organization members, the Department, and the
public about the financial activities of labor organizations.
Specifically, the proposed enhancements seek to protect union assets
from union and management corruption, and to aid union members in the
governance of their unions.
The complexity of labor organizations has increased considerably
since the LMRDA was originally passed in 1959. This increase in
complexity warrants enhanced reporting and disclosure. The balance
between wages/salaries paid to workers and their ``other compensation''
has changed significantly during this time. For example, in 1966, more
than 80 percent of total compensation consisted of wages and salaries,
with less than 20 percent representing benefits. U.S. Department of
Labor, Report on the American Workforce (2001) 76, 87. By 2019, wages
had dropped to 70.1 percent of total compensation and benefits had
grown to 29.9 percent of the compensation package. U.S. Department of
Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Chart on Total Benefits, available at
https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?cu.
This increased complexity heightens the risk for union and
management corruption. For example, a recent investigation of auto
industry corruption involving the United Auto Workers International
Union (UAW) in Detroit, Michigan, and a city automaker produced
multiple criminal convictions in the United States District Court for
the Eastern District of Michigan. The joint investigations conducted by
OLMS, the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service
centered on a conspiracy involving Fiat Chrysler executives bribing
labor officials to influence labor negotiations. Violations included
conspiracy to violate the Labor Management Relations Act for paying and
delivering over $1.5 million in prohibited payments and things of value
to UAW officials, receiving prohibited payments and things of value
from others acting in the interest of Fiat Chrysler, failing to report
income on individual tax returns, conspiring to defraud the United
States by preparing and filing false tax returns for the UAW-Chrysler
National Training Center that concealed millions of dollars in
prohibited payments directed to UAW officials, and deliberately
providing
[[Page 64749]]
misleading and incomplete testimony in the federal grand jury.
While labor organizations have grown more complex, heightening the
need for more detailed or in-depth financial reporting, labor
organization members today are better educated, more empowered, and
more familiar with financial data and transactions than ever before.
Labor organization members, no less than consumers, citizens, or
creditors, expect access to relevant and useful information in order to
make fundamental investment, career, and retirement decisions, evaluate
options, and exercise legally guaranteed rights.
By increasing and enhancing the reporting requirements, the
Department can reduce the risk of corruption, while improving the
informed decision making of labor organizations' members.
E. Regulatory Alternatives
The Department considered a number of alternatives to the proposed
rule. One alternative, not to engage in this rulemaking, was rejected
because the Act's goals are not being met. As explained in the
preamble, members of labor organizations cannot accurately determine
from the current Form LM-2 the value of the benefits officials of labor
organizations are receiving. OLMS cannot readily tell whether a union
is in trusteeship and cannot cross check for compliance with filing a
Form LM-15 Trusteeship Report. Forgoing this rulemaking would mean
union members would not gain a full understanding of all the
compensation union officers are receiving, including from other labor
organizations. The financial condition of the union's strike fund would
remain undisclosed. Labor organization disbursements would be
comingled, rather than separated and itemized, making the disbursements
more difficult to understand. Specifically, these disbursements include
purchases and sales of fixed assets (and names of such purchasers and
sellers); political activities and lobbying; and contract
administration and organizing. Finally, certain receipts of the largest
labor organizations would not be itemized, diminishing the utility of
the information reported. Members need this information to make
informed decisions on the governance of their labor organizations.
Another alternative would be to limit all the new reporting
requirements to labor organizations with receipts over $8,000,000. But
this would hinder the members of 4,440 smaller unions from accurately
determining the value of the benefits officials of labor organizations
are receiving. It would prevent OLMS from readily telling whether a
union is in trusteeship or from cross checking for compliance with
filing a Form LM-15 Trusteeship Report. It would not give union members
a full understanding of all the compensation union officers are
receiving, including from other labor organizations. Finally, it would
comingle information that is best understood when viewed separately;
specifically, purchases and sales of fixed assets (and names of such
purchasers and sellers); political activities and lobbying; and
contract administration and organizing.
Another alternative would be to phase in the effective date for the
Form LM-2 changes and provide smaller Form LM-2 filers with additional
lead time to modify their recordkeeping systems to comply with the new
reporting requirements. The Department has concluded that a three-month
period for all Form LM-2 filers to adapt to the new reporting
requirements should provide sufficient time to make the necessary
adjustments. OLMS also plans to provide compliance assistance to any
labor organization that requests it.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.,
establishes ``as a principle of regulatory issuance that agencies shall
endeavor, consistent with the objectives of the rule and of applicable
statutes, to fit regulatory and informational requirements to the scale
of the business, organizations, and governmental jurisdictions subject
to regulation.'' Public Law 96-354. To achieve that objective, the RFA
requires agencies promulgating proposed and final rules to prepare a
certification and a statement of the factual basis supporting the
certification, when drafting regulations that will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The RFA requires the consideration of the impact of a regulation on a
wide range of small entities, including small businesses, not-for-
profit organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions.
Agencies must perform a review to determine whether a proposed or
final rule would have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. See 5 U.S.C. 603. If the determination is
that it would, the agency must prepare a regulatory flexibility
analysis as described in the RFA. Id. However, if an agency determines
that a proposed or final rule is not expected to have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, section
605(b) of the RFA provides that the head of the agency may so certify
and a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required. See 5 U.S.C.
605. The certification must include a statement providing the factual
basis for this determination, and the reasoning should be clear.
According to the Small Business Administration, organizations under
NAICS 813930 are considered small entities if they have average annual
receipts of less than $8 million.\27\ For this analysis, based on
previous standards utilized in other regulatory analyses, the threshold
for significance is 3 percent of annual receipts, while a substantial
number of small entities would be 20 percent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\27\ See https://www.sba.gov/document/support_table-size-
standards.
_____________________________________-
The Department certifies that this proposed rule will not have a
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. The
analysis that follows serves as the factual basis for this
certification. The Department invites interested persons to submit
comments and data that may further inform this analysis.
All numbers used in the analysis were based on 2019 data taken from
the Office of Labor-Management Standards e.LORS data base, which
contains records of all labor organizations that have filed LMRDA
reports with the Department and Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data.
(1) Reasons for and Objectives of the Proposed Rulemaking
As discussed in the ``Background and Need for Regulatory Action''
section of the Regulatory Impact Analysis above, this rule seeks to
enhance the Form LM-2 Labor Organization Annual Report to improve the
quality of the data collected and ensure that information is reported
in such a way as to meet the objectives of the LMRDA by providing labor
organization members with useful data that will enable them to be
responsible and effective participants in the democratic governance of
their labor organizations. The proposed changes, including the
introduction of the Form LM-2 LF, are designed to provide the
Department, members of labor organizations, and the public with
additional and more detailed information about the financial activities
of labor organization than is available through the current reporting.
These changes are tailored to minimize reporting costs for small
unions, while collecting the most information from the largest and most
financially complex unions.
(2) Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities
For this analysis, a small union is defined as one in which annual
receipts
[[Page 64750]]
are less than $8 million. The Department estimates that it receives
annually 22,175 Forms LM-2, LM-3, and LM-4 reports (4,850 Form LM-2
reports, 10,600 Form LM-3 reports, and 6,725 Form LM-4 reports), of
which 410 filings come from unions with $8 million or more in receipts
and 21,765 filings come from unions with less than $8 million in
receipts. This proposed rule impacts 4,850 labor organizations subject
to the LMRDA, CSRA standards of conduct regulations, or FSA, who
currently file a Form LM-2. Of these organizations, 4,440 have annual
receipts of less than $8 million. The remaining 17,325 unions with
annual receipts of less than $8 million file the Forms LM-3 or LM-4, to
which this rule does not propose changes. The data cited for the
following calculations came from a query of the Department's database
containing all submitted Form LM-2, Form LM-3, and Form LM-4 union
financial disclosure reports for FY 2015-2019. It returned a list of
each such filer along with various discrete informational fields,
including each filer's annual receipts information, which was used to
identify all of the filers with less than $8 million in annual receipts
that inform this RFA analysis.
(3) The Projected Reporting and Recordkeeping Costs and Requirements
As discussed previously in the ``Costs of the Form LM-2 LF and LM-2
Reports for Labor Organizations'' section of the Regulatory Impact
Analysis and in the Paperwork Reduction Act analysis above, this rule
introduces a new Form LM-2 LF for the 410 filers with $8 million or
more in annual receipts, and adds new provisions and reporting
requirements to the existing Form LM-2 for the 4,440 filers with less
than $8 million in annual receipts.
Using FY 18 Form LM-2 filings, inflated to 2019 dollars,\28\ and
2019 BLS statistics,\29\ the weighted average hourly wage for Form LM-2
filers includes: $38.23 for an accountant, $20.65 for a bookkeeper or
clerk, $25.85 for a Form LM-2 filing union secretary-treasurer or
treasurer, and $30.03 for the Form LM-2 filing president, respectively.
The weighted average hourly wage is $36.77.\30\ To account for fringe
benefits and overhead costs, as well as any other unknown costs or
increases in the wage average, the average hourly wage has been
multiplied by 1.63, so the fully loaded hourly wage is $59.94 ($36.77 x
1.63).\31\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\28\ According to the Employment Cost Index, total compensation
increased by approximately 2.8 percent annually from 2018 to 2019,
see https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CIU1010000000000A.
\29\ See 2019 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data available
at: https://www.bls.gov/oes/2019/may/oes_nat.htm.
\30\ The weighted average calculates the wage rate per hour
weighted according to the percentage of time that the Form LM-2's
completion will demand of each official/employee: 90 percent of the
Form LM-2 burden hours will be completed by an accountant, 5 percent
by the bookkeeper, 4 percent by the union's treasurer/secretary-
treasurer, and 1 percent by the union president.
\31\ The use of 1.63 accounts for 17 percent for overhead and 46
percent for fringe. In the case of the 46 percent for fringe, see
the following link to BLS data showing that wages and salaries
represent 68.6 percent (.686) of compensation (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t02.htm). Dividing total compensation by the 68.6
percent represented by wages and salaries is equivalent to a 1.46
multiplier. Adding a 17 percent multiplier (.17) for overhead equals
1.63.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The average cost per respondent to complete the Form LM-2 is $5,607
in the first year and $989 in each subsequent year.
As mentioned earlier, for this analysis, a small union is defined
as one in which annual receipts are less than $8 million.
A threshold of 3 percent of revenues has been used in prior
rulemakings for the definition of significant economic impact. See,
e.g., 79 FR 60634 (October 7, 2014, Establishing a Minimum Wage for
Contractors) and 81 FR 39108 (June 15, 2016, Discrimination on the
Basis of Sex). This threshold is also consistent with thresholds used
by other agencies. See, e.g., 79 FR 27106 (May 12, 2014, Department of
Health and Human Services rule stating that, under its agency
guidelines for conducting regulatory flexibility analyses, actions that
do not negatively affect costs or revenues by more than three percent
annually are not economically significant). The Department believes
that its use of a 3 percent of revenues significance criterion is
appropriate.
The Department believes that its use of a 20 percent of affected
small business entities substantiality criterion is appropriate given
prior rulemakings.
As demonstrated by the tables below, this rule will not have a
substantial impact on a significant number of small entities.
Significant Impact on Small Unions in the First Year--$8 Million Size Standard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
Number of Average new New burden as % of small small unions % of small
Size (by receipts) small unions Average annual burden per % of annual unions subject to unions subject
affected receipts union receipts affected significant to significant
impact * impact **
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$5M-$8M................................. 240 $6,303,788 $5,607 0.09 1.1 .............. ..............
$2.5M-$4.99M............................ 584 3,527,359 5,607 0.16 2.7 .............. ..............
$1M-$2.49M.............................. 1,094 1,596,511 5,607 0.35 5.0 .............. ..............
$500K-$999,999.......................... 1,107 719,143 5,607 0.78 5.1 .............. ..............
$250K-$499,999.......................... 1,173 357,283 5,607 1.57 5.4 .............. ..............
$10K-$249,999........................... 10,796 61,856 102 0.16 49.6 .............. ..............
Less than $10K.......................... 6,771 2,790 38 1.377 31.1 .............. ..............
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total............................... 21,765 .............. .............. .............. 100 0 0.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The Revenue test for significant impact on small unions is set at 3% for this rule.
** The standard for substantial number is set at 20% of small unions overall for this rule.
[[Page 64751]]
Significant Impact on Small Unions in Subsequent Years--$8 Million Size Standard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
Number of Average new New burden as % of small small unions % of small
Size (by receipts) small unions Average annual burden per % of annual unions subject to unions subject
affected receipts union receipts affected significant to significant
impact * impact **
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$5M-$8M................................. 240 $6,303,788 $989 0.02 1.1 .............. ..............
$2.5M-$4.99M............................ 584 3,527,359 989 0.03 2.7 .............. ..............
$1M-$2.49M.............................. 1,094 1,596,511 989 0.06 5.0 .............. ..............
$500K-$999,999.......................... 1,107 719,143 989 0.14 5.1 .............. ..............
$250K-$499,999.......................... 1,173 357,283 989 0.28 5.4 .............. ..............
$10K-$249,999........................... 10,796 61,856 18 0.03 49.6 .............. ..............
Less than $10K.......................... 6,771 2,790 7 0.24 31.1 0 ..............
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total............................... 21,765 .............. .............. .............. 100 0 0.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The Revenue test for significant impact on small unions is set at 3% for this rule.
** The standard for substantial number is set at 20% of small unions overall for this rule.
(4) Duplicative, Overlapping, and Conflicting Rules
The Department is aware of a proposed rule that would, if
promulgated, overlap with the provisions contained in this proposed
rule. On December 17, 2019, the Department proposed a rule governing
intermediate bodies that are composed of public sector organizations
but are subordinate to national or international labor organizations
covered by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959
(LMRDA or Act). See 84 FR 68842. Under the proposal such intermediate
bodies would be covered by the LMRDA and be required to file the
applicable annual union financial reports. If that proposal were to
become final, those intermediate bodies--as newly regulated entities--
would be affected by the instant rulemaking.
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996
This rule is not a major rule as defined by section 804 of the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. This rule
will not result in an annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or
more; a major increase in costs or prices; or significant adverse
effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity,
innovation, or on the ability of the United States-based companies to
compete with foreign-based companies in domestic and export markets.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This statement is prepared in accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501 (PRA). See 5 CFR 1320.9. The rule
implements an information collection that meets the requirements of the
PRA in that (1) the information collection has practical utility to
labor organizations, their members, other members of the public, and
the Department; (2) the rule does not require the collection of
information that is duplicative of other reasonably accessible
information; (3) the provisions reduce to the extent practicable and
appropriate the burden on labor organizations that must provide the
information, including small labor organizations; (4) the form,
instructions, and explanatory information are written in plain language
that will be understandable by reporting labor organizations; (5) the
disclosure requirements are implemented in ways consistent and
compatible, to the maximum extent practicable, with the existing
reporting and recordkeeping practices of labor organizations that must
comply with them; (6) this preamble informs labor organizations of the
reasons that the information will be collected, the way in which it
will be used, the Department's estimate of the average burden of
mandatory compliance, the fact that all information collected will be
made public, and the fact that they need not respond unless the form
displays a currently valid OMB control number; (7) the Department has
explained its plans for the efficient and effective management and use
of the information to be collected, to enhance its utility to the
Department and the public; (8) the Department has explained why the
method of collecting information is ``appropriate to the purpose for
which the information is to be collected''; and (9) the changes
implemented by this rule make extensive, appropriate use of information
technology ``to reduce burden and improve data quality, agency
efficiency and responsiveness to the public.'' See 5 CFR 1320.9; 44
U.S.C. 3506(c).
Concurrent with the publication of this proposed rule, the
Department is submitting an associated information collection request
to the Office of Management and Budget for approval.
A. Summary
The Department proposes to promulgate a rule that updates and
revises 29 CFR part 403 in order to establish a Form LM-2 LF, and to
improve the Form LM-2 Annual Report in the interest of labor
organization financial integrity and transparency.
Currently, unions must file one of three types of annual financial
reports based on the total annual receipts of the union. The annual
financial reports vary in the level of detail that must be reported.
Form LM-2 is the most detailed report. Unions with total annual
receipts of $250,000 or more and subordinate labor organizations held
in trusteeship file this report, which discloses certain information
items and financial activities in separate line items under assets,
liabilities, receipts, and disbursements. Supporting schedules detail
loans, investments, payments to officers and employees, and other data.
Disbursements are reported in specified categories (Representational
Activities; Political Activities and Lobbying; Contributions, Gifts and
Grants; General Overhead; and Union Administration). Certain
transactions that equal or aggregate to $5,000 are separately itemized.
Form LM-3, a less-detailed report, may be filed by unions with
total annual receipts of less than $250,000 (if not in trusteeship). It
requires the reporting of certain information items, has fewer
financial items than the Form LM-2, and has no supporting schedules or
itemization.
Form LM-4, an abbreviated two-page report, may be filed by unions
with annual financial receipts of less than
[[Page 64752]]
$10,000 (if not in trusteeship). It requires the reporting of a limited
number of information items and five financial details.
Simplified annual financial reports may be filed by parent unions
on behalf of subordinate labor organizations with no assets,
liabilities, receipts, or disbursements and that meet certain other
conditions.
The Secretary has authority to implement the reporting provisions
by regulation. ``The Secretary shall have authority to issue, amend,
and rescind rules and regulations prescribing the form and publication
of reports required to be filed under this title and such other
reasonable rules and regulations (including rules prescribing reports
concerning trusts in which a labor organization is interested) as he
may find necessary to prevent the circumvention or evasion of such
reporting requirements.'' See 29 U.S.C. 438.
B. Form LM-2 LF
The Department proposes a new Form LM-2 LF. It would track the
existing Form LM-2 except as follows. In new Item 3(d), the union would
report whether it was in trusteeship. New Item 10(b) would require the
labor organization to report whether certain officers or employees
received payment from another labor organization. New Item 11(c) would
ask whether the union has a separate strike fund and, if so, provide
information on the fund. New Item 18(b) would require reporting of the
date of the labor organization's current constitution and bylaws.
Under the proposal, four schedules would be divided in two and
become eight schedules. Specifically, the Department proposes to divide
Schedule 3--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets into two schedules.
The first would be a new Schedule 3--Sale of Investments. The second
would be new Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed Assets.
In the new Schedule 3--Sale of Investments, the Department proposes
to add two new columns. The first new column, entitled ``Name and
Address of Purchaser or Financial Management Firm (A),'' would disclose
the purchasers of investments from the labor organization. A second
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the sale. The other
columns (Description (if land or buildings, give location); Cost; Book
Value; Gross Sales Price; and Amount Received) would remain the same
but would be designated with different letters, to accommodate the two
new columns.
The second part of the divided schedule would be the new Schedule
4--Sale of Fixed Assets. As in the case of new Schedule 3, the
Department proposes to add two new columns to Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed
Assets. The first new column entitled ``Name and Address of Purchaser''
would disclose the purchasers of fixed assets from the labor
organization. A second column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of
the sale. In addition, the Department proposes that the union would be
required to identify automobiles individually by make, model, year, and
Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). This information would be listed
under existing Column A (Description).
Current Schedule 4 will also be divided. Under current Schedule 4--
Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets, a labor organization must
report details of the purchases by the labor organization of U.S.
Treasury securities, marketable securities, other investments, and
fixed assets, including those fixed assets that were expensed. As with
sale of investments and fixed assets, the Department proposes to break
this schedule into two: New Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments and new
Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed Assets.
In the new Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments, the Department
proposes to add two new columns. The first new column entitled ``Name
and Address of Seller or Financial Management Firm (A)'' would disclose
the identity of the seller of investments to the labor organization. A
second new column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the purchase.
Likewise, to new Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed Assets, the
Department proposes to add two new columns. The first new column
entitled ``Name and Address of Seller (A)'' would disclose the identity
of the seller of fixed assets to the labor organization. A second new
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the purchase. In
addition, the Department proposes that the union would be required to
identify automobiles individually by make, model, year, and VIN. This
information would be listed under existing Column A (Description).
The Department proposes to divide Schedule 15--Representational
Activities into two and renumber them Schedule 24 and Schedule 25. The
first would be designated new Schedule 24--Contract Negotiation and
Administration. The second would be new Schedule 25--Organizing.
In addition, Schedule 16--Political Activities and Lobbying would
be renumbered and divided into two schedules. On new Schedule 26, labor
organizations would report disbursements for political activities. On
new Schedule 27, the labor organization would report lobbying
disbursements.
The Department proposes to add new schedules that coincide with the
items of cash receipts listed on Statement B. Stated otherwise, seven
categories of receipts are currently reported as seven aggregate, lump
sums. Under this proposal, they would by supported by schedules. These
schedules represent new requirements that labor organizations itemize
the individual categories of receipts aggregated to $5,000 or more from
any one source. The labor organization would be required to complete a
separate itemization schedule for each individual or entity from which
the labor organization has received $5,000 or more. Each transaction
from that individual or entity would be accompanied by information
about the individual, the purpose of the payment, the date of the
payment, and the amount of the payment. The total amount received from
the individual or entity, both itemized and non-itemized, would be
included at the bottom of the itemized schedule. The totals from each
itemized schedule would then be added together and that number would be
entered in the appropriate item on Statement B.
These additional schedules correspond to the following categories
of receipts:
Dues and Agency Fees;
Per Capita Tax;
Fees, Fines, Assessments, Work Permits;
Sales of Supplies;
Rents;
On Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal to Them; and
From Members for Disbursement on Their Behalf.
The Department seeks comment on whether to require for Form LM-2 LF
a Schedule 32--Foreign Transactions. It would require reporting if the
labor union engages in a transaction with a foreign entity or a foreign
individual. The labor organization would report any individual receipt
of $5,000 or more or total receipts from any single entity or
individual that aggregate to $5,000 or more during the reporting period
derived from a foreign entity or individual.
The Department proposes to retain its current itemization
transaction threshold. Specifically, schedules 14 through 19 on the
Form LM-2 are currently subject to itemization. These schedules reflect
various services provided to union members by the union. All ``major''
disbursements during the reporting period in the
[[Page 64753]]
various schedules must be separately itemized. A major disbursement
includes (1) any individual disbursement of $5,000 or more; or (2)
total disbursements to any single entity or individual that aggregate
to $5,000 or more during the reporting period. All other disbursements
in these schedules are aggregated.
The Department proposes to renumber schedules 14 through 19 as
schedules 23 through 30. (The two extra schedules are the result of
dividing into two the schedules for Representational Activities and
Political Activities and Lobbying.) As in the current Form LM-2, under
these newly renumbered schedules, all ``major'' disbursements during
the reporting period in the various categories would be separately
identified. As proposed, a major disbursement would include (1) any
individual disbursement of $5,000 or more or (2) total disbursements to
any single entity or individual that aggregate to $5,000 or more during
the reporting period. All other disbursements in these schedules would
continue to be aggregated.
The Department seeks comment on whether to narrow, modify or
eliminate a confidentiality exemption for reporting certain
information.
C. Form LM-2 Revised
The Department proposes to revise Form LM-2. It would mirror the
existing Form LM-2 except as follows. In new Item 3(d), the union would
report whether it was in trusteeship. In new Item 10(b), the union
would provide whether it has a trust and, if so, provide information on
the trust. New Item 10(c) would require the labor organization to
report whether certain officers or employees received payment from
another labor organization. New 18(b) would require reporting of the
date of the labor organization's constitution and bylaws.
Under this proposal, four schedules would be divided in two and
become eight schedules. The Department proposes to divide Schedule 3--
Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets into two schedules: New Schedule
3--Sale of Investments and new Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed Assets.
In the new Schedule 3--Sale of Investments, the Department proposes
to add two new columns. The first new column, entitled ``Name and
Address of Purchaser or Financial Management Firm (A),'' would disclose
the purchasers of investments from the labor organization. A second
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the sale. The other
columns (Description (if land or buildings, give location); Cost; Book
Value; Gross Sales Price; and Amount Received) would remain the same
but would be designated with different letters, to accommodate the two
new columns. The other columns (Description (if land or buildings, give
location) (A); Cost (B); Book Value (C); Gross Sales Price (D); and
Amount Received (E)) would remain the same but would be designated with
different letters, to accommodate the two new columns.
The second of the two divided schedules would be the new Schedule
4--Sale of Fixed Assets. As in the case of new Schedule 3, the
Department proposes to add two new columns to Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed
Assets. The first new column entitled ``Name and Address of Purchaser
(A)'' would disclose the purchasers of fixed assets from the labor
organization. A second column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of
the sale. In addition, the Department proposes that the union would be
required to identify automobiles individually by make, model, year, and
VIN. This information would be listed under existing Column A
(Description).
Current Schedule 4 will also be divided. The Department proposes to
divide Schedule 4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets into two
schedules: New Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments and new Schedule 6--
Purchase of Fixed Assets. Under current Schedule 4--Purchase of
Investments and Fixed Assets, a labor organization must report details
of the purchases of U.S. Treasury securities, marketable securities,
other investments, and fixed assets, including those fixed assets that
were expensed. As with sale of investments and fixed assets, the
Department proposes to break this schedule into two: New Schedule 5--
Purchase of Investments and new Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed Assets.
In the new Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments, the Department
proposes to add two new columns. The first new column entitled ``Name
and Address of Seller or Financial Management Firm (A)'' would disclose
the identity of the seller of investments to the labor organization. A
second new column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the purchase.
Likewise, to new Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed Assets, the
Department proposes to add two new columns. The first new column
entitled ``Name and Address of Seller (A)'' would disclose the identity
of the seller of fixed assets to the labor organization. A second new
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the purchase. In
addition, the Department proposes that the union would be required to
identify automobiles individually by make, model, year, and VIN. This
information would be listed under existing Column A (Description).
The Department proposes to divide Schedule 15--Representational
Activities into two, and renumber them Schedule 24 and Schedule 25. The
first would be designated new Schedule 24--Contract Negotiation and
Administration. The second would be new Schedule 25--Organizing.
In addition, Schedule 16--Political Activities and Lobbying would
be renumbered and divided into two schedules. On new Schedule 26, labor
organizations would report disbursements for political activities. On
new Schedule 27, the labor organization would report lobbying
disbursements.
The Department seeks comment on whether to raise the threshold for
filing the Form LM-2 from its current $250,000 level to $300,000.
Although the overwhelming majority (78.5%) of all reporting labor
organizations are currently exempt from filing Form LM-2, changing the
threshold to $300,000 would reduce the recordkeeping and reporting
burden for approximately 273 labor organizations.
D. Hours To Complete and File Form LM-2 LF and LM-2 Reports
In sum, the proposed rule would create a new Form LM-2 LF, which
the Department estimates would impose an additional 66.5 burden hours,
for a total of 596.75 burden hours; the Form LM- 2 changes would impose
an additional 16.5 burden hours, for a total of 546.5 hours.\32\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\32\ Additionally, the Department estimates that all Form LM-2
and Form LM-2 LF filers would face a one-time 15-minute
familiarization burden. See the Form T-1 final rule at 85 FR 13437.
Further, the Department estimates that these filers would face 32.5
hours in nonrecurring recordkeeping burden and 44.3 in nonrecurring
reporting burden hours, in order to adapt accounting systems for new
and revised schedules. See the 2003 Form LM-2 final rule, 68 FR
58439, Table 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Form LM-2 LF
As explained, the Form LM-2 LF would establish 12 new schedules. In
the 2003 Form LM-2 final rule, the Department estimated that the new
disbursement schedules would result in 5 hours of new burden, 4.4 hours
of recordkeeping burden, and 0.6 hours of reporting burden. See 68 FR
58439, Table 4 (Summary of Average Additional First Year Burden for the
Revised Form LM-2). The Department applies this 5 hours per schedule
burden to each of the 12 new schedules in the Form LM-2 LF, resulting
in 60
[[Page 64754]]
additional reporting hours for the form. Additionally, while the
proposed Form LM-2 LF would create new columns for benefits on the
officer and employee schedules, the proposed changes would also remove
the functional reporting requirements, resulting in no net gain in
burden for those schedules.
In new Item 10(b), the union will provide whether it has a trust
and, if so, provide information on the trust. New Item 10(c) will
require the labor organization to report whether certain officers or
employees received payment from another labor organization. New Item
11(c) will ask whether the union has a separate strike fund and, if so,
provide information on the fund. New Item 18(b) will require reporting
of the dates of the labor organization's current constitution and
bylaws. Each one of these items will add .25 hours to the burden,
resulting in an additional hour of burden.
In each of two new schedules, two new columns will be added. Each
of these columns will add 0.50 hours of burden, for a total of two
hours of additional burden.
Finally, experience with the Form LM-2 in previous rulemakings
indicates that a labor organization will spend 15 minutes a year
training new staff; 60 minutes preparing the download; 90 minutes
preparing and testing the data file; and 60 minutes editing, validating
and importing the data. See the Form T-1 final rule, 85 FR 13435. In
total, the Department estimates 596.75 burden hours for the new Form
LM-2 LF (the 530 hours associated with the current Form LM-2 and the
66.75 hours associated with the additional schedules and reporting
requirements).
Form LM-2
For the Form LM-2, the Department proposes adding four new
schedules, at an estimated five burden hours per schedule or 20 total
hours. However, the Department also proposes to eliminate functional
reporting for the officer disbursements Schedule 11 and employee
disbursement Schedule 12. The Department estimates that these changes
result in 5 hours of burden savings per each of these forms, for a
total of 10 hours of savings. Subtracting these 10 hours from the 20
hours resulting from the new schedules equals an estimated 10
additional burden hours for the Form LM-2.
In each of two schedules, two new columns will be added. Each of
these columns will add 0.50 hours of burden, for a total of two hours
of additional burden.
In new Item 10(b), the union will provide whether it has a trust
and, if so, provide information on the trust. New Item 10(c) will
require the labor organization to report whether certain officers or
employees received payment from another labor organization. New 18(b)
will require reporting of the dates of the labor organization's current
constitution and bylaws. Each one of these items will add .25 hours to
the burden, resulting in an additional 0.75 hours of burden.
Further, experience with the Form LM-2 in previous rulemakings
indicates that a labor organization will spend 15 minutes a year
training new staff; 60 minutes preparing the download; 90 minutes
preparing and testing the data file; and 60 minutes editing, validating
and importing the data. See the Form T-1 final rule, 85 FR 13435. In
total, the Department estimates an additional 16.5 burden hours for a
total of 546.5 hours for the revised Form LM-2 (the 530 hours
associated with the current Form LM-2 and the 16.5 hours associated
with the additional schedules and reporting requirements).
E. Estimated Number of Form LM-2 LF, LM-2, LM-3, and LM-4 Reports
The Department currently estimates that it receives annually 22,175
Form LM-2, LM-3, and LM-4 reports (4,850 Form LM-2 reports, 10,600 Form
LM-3 reports, and 6,725 Form LM-4 reports).\33\ The proposed rule would
not add any new reports to this universe, although the Department does
expect to see a change in the number of Form LM-2 reports received,
with the addition of the Form LM-2 LF for those filers with total
annual receipts of $8 million or more. The Department would expect to
see a decrease in Form LM-2 reports, to 4,440 reports, since 410 of the
current Form LM-2 reports derive from filers with $8 million or more in
total annual receipts. Consequently, the Department would expect 410
Form LM-2 LF reports.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\33\ See OLMS Historical Filing Data at https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/filing_data.htm. The Department averaged
reports received over the five-year period, FYs 15-19.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
F. Total Burden Hours
The current Form LM-2 requires 530 burden hours; the current Form
LM-3 requires 103 hours; and the current Form LM-4 requires 9
hours.\34\ In sum, the proposed rule would create a new Form LM-2 LF,
which the Department estimates would impose 66.75 new burden hours, for
a total of 596.75 additional burden hours; and the Form LM-2 changes
would impose an additional 16.5 burden hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\34\ See the Form LM-2, LM-3, and LM-4 Instructions at https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/LM2_3_4.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the new Form LM-2 LF, since the Department estimates 410
reports submitted, the total recurring burden hours comes to 244,667.5
hours (410 reports x 596.75 hours per report). For the Form LM-2, since
the Department estimates 4,440 revised reports submitted, the total
additional, recurring burden hours comes to 73,260 hours (4,440 x
16.5).
The total additional, recurring burden hours imposed by the
proposed rule is 317,927.5.
G. Conclusion
As the proposed rule requires an information collection, the
Department is submitting, contemporaneous with the publication of this
notice, an information collection request (ICR) to revise the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA) clearance to address the clearance term. A copy of
this ICR, with applicable supporting documentation, including among
other items a description of the likely respondents, proposed frequency
of response, and estimated total burden may be obtained free of charge
from the RegInfo.gov website at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=201907-1245-001 (this link will only become active
on the day following publication of this document) or from the
Department by contacting Andrew Davis on 202-693-0123 (this is not a
toll-free number)/email: [email protected].
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Agency: Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Title: Labor Organization and Auxiliary Reports.
OMB Number: 1245-0003.
Affected Public: Private Sector--labor organizations.
Total Estimated Number of Responses: 31,686.
Frequency of Response: Varies.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 4,472,819.
Estimated Total Annual Other Burden Cost: $0.
List of Subjects in 29 CFR Parts 402, 403, and 408
Labor organization, Trusts, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
Accordingly, for the reasons discussed in the preamble, the
Department proposes to amend parts 402, 403, and 408 of title 29,
chapter IV of the Code of Federal Regulations as set forth below:
[[Page 64755]]
PART 402--LABOR ORGANIZATION INFORMATION REPORTS
0
1. The authority citation for part 402 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Secs. 201, 207, 208, 73 Stat. 524, 529 (29 U.S.C.
431, 437, 438); Secretary's Order No. 03-2012, 77 FR 69376, November
16, 2012.
0
2. Amend Sec. 402.5 by revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:
Sec. 402.5 Terminal reports.
(a) Any labor organization required to file reports under the
provisions of this part, which ceases to exist by virtue of dissolution
or any other form of termination of its existence as a labor
organization, or which loses its identity as a reporting labor
organization through merger, consolidation or otherwise, shall file a
report containing a detailed statement of the circumstances and
effective date of such termination or loss of reporting identity, and
if the latter, such report shall also state the name and mailing
address of the labor organization into which it has been consolidated,
merged, or otherwise absorbed. Such report shall be submitted on Form
LM-2 or Form LM-2 LF in connection with the terminal financial report
required by Sec. 403.5 and shall be signed by the president and
treasurer, or corresponding principal officers, of the labor
organization at the time of its termination or loss of reporting
identity and, together with a copy thereof, shall be filed with the
Office of Labor-Management Standards within 30 days of the effective
date of such termination or loss of reporting identity, as the case may
be.
* * * * *
PART 403--LABOR ORGANIZATION ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORTS
0
3. The authority citation for part 403 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Secs. 201, 207, 208, 301, 73 Stat. 524, 529, 530 (29
U.S.C. 431, 437, 438, 461); Secretary's Order No. 03-2012, 77 FR
69376, November 16, 2012.
0
4. Amend Sec. 403.2 by revising paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) introductory
text, and (d)(3)(i) through (iii) to read as follows:
Sec. 403.2 Annual financial report.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(2) A separate report shall be filed on Form T-1 for each such
trust within 90 days after the end of the labor organization's fiscal
year in the detail required by the instructions accompanying the form
and constituting a part thereof, and shall be signed by the president
and treasurer, or corresponding principal officers, of the labor
organization. Only the parent labor organization (i.e., the national/
international or intermediate labor organization) must file the Form T-
1 report for covered trusts in which both the parent labor organization
and its affiliates satisfy the financial or managerial domination test
set forth in paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section. The affiliates must
continue to identify the trust in their Form LM-2 Labor Organization
Annual Report or Form LM-2 LF Labor Organization Annual Report Long
Form, and include a statement that the parent labor organization will
file a Form T-1 report for the trust.
(3) No Form T-1 should be filed for any trust (or a plan of which
the trust is part) that:
(i) Meets the statutory definition of a labor organization and
already files a Form LM-2, LM-2 LF, Form LM-3, Form LM-4, or simplified
LM report;
(ii) The LMRDA exempts from reporting;
(iii) Meets the definition of a subsidiary organization pursuant to
Part X of the instructions for the Form LM-2 Labor Organization Annual
Report or Part (X) of the instructions for the Form LM-2 LF Labor
Organization Annual Report Long Form;
* * * * *
0
5. Revise Sec. 403.3 to read as follows:
Sec. 403.3 Form of annual financial report--detailed report.
(a) Every labor organization shall, except as expressly provided
otherwise in this part, file an annual financial report as required by
Sec. 403.2, prepared on United States Department of Labor Form LM-2,
``Labor Organization Annual Report,'' in the detail required by the
instructions accompanying the form and constituting a part thereof.
(b) If a labor organization has gross annual receipts totaling
$8,000,000 or more for its fiscal year it shall file the annual
financial report called for in section 201(b) of the Act on United
States Department of Labor Form LM-2 LF entitled ``Labor Organization
Annual Report Long Form,'' in accordance with the instructions
accompanying such form and constituting a part thereof.
0
6. Amend Sec. 403.5 by revising paragraphs (a) and (b) to read as
follows:
Sec. 403.5 Terminal financial report.
(a) Any labor organization required to file a report under the
provisions of this part, which during its fiscal year loses its
identity as a reporting labor organization through merger,
consolidation, or otherwise, shall, within 30 days after such loss,
file a terminal financial report with the Office of Labor-Management
Standards, on Form LM-2, LM-2 LF, LM-3, or LM-4, as may be appropriate,
signed by the president and treasurer or corresponding principal
officers of the labor organization immediately prior to the time of its
loss of reporting identity.
(b) Every labor organization which has assumed trusteeship over a
subordinate labor organization shall file within 90 days after the
termination of such trusteeship on behalf of the subordinate labor
organization a terminal financial report with the Office of Labor-
Management Standards, on Form LM-2 or Form LM-2 LF and in conformance
with the requirements of this part.
* * * * *
0
7. Amend Sec. 403.8 by revising paragraph (b)(1) to read as follows:
Sec. 403.8 Dissemination and verification of reports.
* * * * *
(b)(1) If a labor organization is required to file a report under
this part using the Form LM-2 or Form LM-2 LF and indicates that it has
failed or refused to disclose information required by the Form
concerning any disbursement, or receipt not otherwise reported on
Statement B, to an individual or entity in the amount of $5,000 or
more, or any two or more disbursements, or receipts not otherwise
reported on Statement B, to an individual or entity that, in the
aggregate, amount to $5,000 or more, because disclosure of such
information may be adverse to the organization's legitimate interests,
then the failure or refusal to disclose the information shall be deemed
``just cause'' for purposes of paragraph (a) of this section.
* * * * *
PART 408--LABOR ORGANIZATION TRUSTEESHIP REPORTS
0
8. The authority to part 408 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Secs. 202, 207, 208, 73 Stat. 525, 529 (29 U.S.C.
432, 437, 438); Secretary's Order No. 03-2012, 77 FR 69376, November
16, 2012.
0
9. Revise Sec. 408.5 to read as follows:
Sec. 408.5 Annual financial report.
During the continuance of a trusteeship, the labor organization
which has assumed trusteeship over a subordinate labor organization,
shall file with the Office of Labor-Management Standards on behalf of
the subordinate labor organization the annual financial report and any
Form T-1 reports
[[Page 64756]]
required by part 403 of this chapter, signed by the president and
treasurer or corresponding principal officers of the labor organization
which has assumed such trusteeship, and the trustees of the subordinate
labor organization on Form LM-2 or Form LM-2 LF.
0
10. Revise Sec. 408.7 to read as follows:
Sec. 408.7 Terminal trusteeship financial report.
Each labor organization which has assumed trusteeship over a
subordinate labor organization shall file within 90 days after the
termination of such trusteeship on behalf of the subordinate labor
organization a terminal financial report, and one copy, with the Office
of Labor-Management Standards, on Form LM-2 or Form LM-2 LF and in
conformance with the requirements of part 403 of this chapter.
Andrew D. Auerbach,
Acting Director, Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Note: The following forms will not appear in the Code of Federal
Regulations.
BILLING CODE 4510-86-P
[[Page 64757]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.010
[[Page 64758]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.011
[[Page 64759]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.012
[[Page 64760]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.013
[[Page 64761]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.014
[[Page 64762]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.015
[[Page 64763]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.016
[[Page 64764]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.017
[[Page 64765]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.018
[[Page 64766]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.019
[[Page 64767]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.020
[[Page 64768]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.021
[[Page 64769]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.022
[[Page 64770]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.023
[[Page 64771]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.024
[[Page 64772]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.025
[[Page 64773]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.026
[[Page 64774]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.027
[[Page 64775]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.028
[[Page 64776]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.029
[[Page 64777]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.030
[[Page 64778]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.031
[[Page 64779]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.032
[[Page 64780]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.033
[[Page 64781]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.034
[[Page 64782]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.035
[[Page 64783]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.036
[[Page 64784]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.037
[[Page 64785]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.038
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.039
[[Page 64786]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.040
[[Page 64787]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.041
[[Page 64788]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.042
[[Page 64789]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.043
[[Page 64790]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.044
[[Page 64791]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.045
[[Page 64792]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.046
[[Page 64793]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.047
[[Page 64794]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.048
[[Page 64795]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.049
[[Page 64796]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.050
[[Page 64797]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.051
[[Page 64798]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.052
[[Page 64799]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.053
[[Page 64800]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.054
[[Page 64801]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.055
[[Page 64802]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.056
[[Page 64803]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.057
[[Page 64804]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.058
[[Page 64805]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.059
[[Page 64806]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.060
[[Page 64807]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.061
[[Page 64808]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.062
[[Page 64809]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.063
[[Page 64810]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.064
[[Page 64811]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.065
[[Page 64812]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.066
[[Page 64813]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.067
[[Page 64814]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.068
[[Page 64815]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.069
[[Page 64816]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.070
[[Page 64817]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.071
[[Page 64818]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.072
[[Page 64819]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.073
[[Page 64820]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.074
[[Page 64821]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.075
[[Page 64822]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.076
[[Page 64823]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.077
[[Page 64824]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.078
[[Page 64825]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.079
[[Page 64826]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.080
[[Page 64827]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.081
[[Page 64828]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.082
[[Page 64829]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.083
[[Page 64830]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.084
[[Page 64831]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.085
[[Page 64832]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.086
[[Page 64833]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.087
[[Page 64834]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.088
[[Page 64835]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.089
[[Page 64836]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.090
[[Page 64837]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.091
[[Page 64838]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.092
[[Page 64839]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.093
[[Page 64840]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.094
[[Page 64841]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.095
[[Page 64842]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.096
[[Page 64843]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.097
[[Page 64844]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.098
[[Page 64845]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.099
[[Page 64846]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.100
[[Page 64847]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.101
[[Page 64848]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.102
[[Page 64849]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.103
[[Page 64850]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.104
[[Page 64851]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.105
[[Page 64852]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.106
[[Page 64853]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.107
[[Page 64854]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.108
[[Page 64855]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.109
[[Page 64856]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.110
[[Page 64857]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.111
[[Page 64858]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.112
[[Page 64859]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.113
[[Page 64860]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.114
[[Page 64861]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.115
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.116
[[Page 64862]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.117
[[Page 64863]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.118
[[Page 64864]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.119
[[Page 64865]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.120
[[Page 64866]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.121
[[Page 64867]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.122
[[Page 64868]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.123
[[Page 64869]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.124
[[Page 64870]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.125
[[Page 64871]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.126
[[Page 64872]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.127
[[Page 64873]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.128
[[Page 64874]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.129
[[Page 64875]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.130
[[Page 64876]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.131
[[Page 64877]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.132
[[Page 64878]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.133
[[Page 64879]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.134
[[Page 64880]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.135
[[Page 64881]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.136
[[Page 64882]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.137
[[Page 64883]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.138
[[Page 64884]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.139
[[Page 64885]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.140
[[Page 64886]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.141
[[Page 64887]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.142
[[Page 64888]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.143
[[Page 64889]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.144
[[Page 64890]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.145
[[Page 64891]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.146
[[Page 64892]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.147
[[Page 64893]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.148
[[Page 64894]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.149
[[Page 64895]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.150
[[Page 64896]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.151
[[Page 64897]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.152
[[Page 64898]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.153
[[Page 64899]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.154
[[Page 64900]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.155
[[Page 64901]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.156
[[Page 64902]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.157
[[Page 64903]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.158
[[Page 64904]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.159
[[Page 64905]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.160
[[Page 64906]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP13OC20.161
[FR Doc. 2020-21685 Filed 10-8-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-86-P
