Labor's Cloak

A Pittsburgh Tribune editorial entitled, “Labor’s Cloak,” finds the Department of Labor’s refusal to allow union workers to know how the union bosses are spending their dues money hypocritical:

Once more — this time in relation to labor unions’ mandatory financial disclosures — Obama administration “transparency” actually is opacity that benefits big political supporters.

The Obama Labor Department has rescinded or delayed three Bush administration proposals to force unions and their leaders to disclose more financial details, according to The Washington Times. That keeps union members in the dark about who buys and sells union assets, leaders’ conflicts of interest and finances of union benefit trusts.

The administration rationale behind its “mushroom treatment” for union members echoes union leaders’ “too onerous” protestations about expanded disclosure. So Labor’s motivation is transparent: doing big campaign donors’ bidding, not discouraging and documenting union financial abuses.

That attitude is in keeping with the Obama White House’s general disdain for business. Seems there’s no regulation it wouldn’t like to impose on corporations and no regulation it would like to impose on unions.

The next time union leaders tell members who to vote for, those members should remember who denied them more and better ways to keep their leaders financially honest — the president those leaders backed — and why.