The implementation of union disclosure rules by the Department of Labor has surely been lacking — but even a whiff of disclosure for workers will surely be eliminated when the Obama Administration takes over. The Wall Street Journal notes:
From day one of the Obama era, union leaders want the lights dimmed on how they spend their mandatory member dues. The AFL-CIO’s representative on the Obama transition team for Labor is Deborah Greenfield, and we’re told her first inspection stop was the Office of Labor-Management Standards, or OLMS, which monitors union compliance with federal law.
Ms. Greenfield declined to comment, citing Obama transition rules, but her mission is clear enough. The AFL-CIO’s formal “recommendations” to the Obama team call for the realignment of “the allocation of budgetary resources” from OLMS to other Labor agencies. The Secretary should “temporarily stay all financial reporting regulations that have not gone into effect,” and “revise or rescind the onerous and unreasonable new requirements,” such as the LM-2 and T-1 reporting forms. The explicit goal is to “restore the Department of Labor to its mission and role of advocating for, protecting and advancing the interests of workers.” In other words, while transparency is fine for business, unions are demanding a pass for themselves.
With the corrupt SEIU (Service Employees International Union) essentially picking the next Secretary of Labor, don’t count on any effort to police the union bosses for at least the next four years.
They bought their fiefdom and now they want to rule it.