Keeping Union Bosses Accountable

The omnibus spending bill that is making its way through Congress increases federal spending on almost every government program except one — the Office of Labor Management Standards at the Department of Labor — the office that oversees union corruption.

President Bush asked Congress for $57 million, an increase of $9 million over the previous year. Instead, congressional Democrats actually cut spending for the office to $45 million — a 21% cut over the president’s request.

Writing for the New York Sun, Diana Furchtgott-Roth notes:

OLMS protects union members from deceptive practices and irregular accounting by forcing union leaders to disclose them. That is a worthy purpose . . . Congress could not cut the budget of the SEC. It is a large and visible agency whose budget is closely watched by outside groups. But the Office of Labor Management Standards works in relative obscurity, protecting millions of American union members. The Democratic majority does not care about these workers — it just wants to protect the union bosses to preserve the flow of campaign contributions.