Posts tagged LM-2
More transparency for the largest unions
May 31, 2026 // A new rule from the Labor Department will recalibrate the disclosure reports that labor unions are required to file. It’s a welcome update to ensure that union members know how their money is being spent. What will happen in the 2026 midterms? Sign up for Margin of Victory The reason unions have government-mandated disclosure requirements is that they are government-backed monopolies. Labor relations law gives unions exclusive power as the sole bargaining agent for the entire workplace.
Unions that paralyzed New York commute over pay spent millions on luxury travel, filings show
May 21, 2026 // The disclosures offer a window into how the unions spent money on travel, conferences and event venues during the same year they argued workers were being squeezed by rising costs. The strike disrupted hundreds of thousands of daily riders and cost the region an estimated $61 million per day. LM-2 forms are annual financial disclosure reports that labor unions file with the Department of Labor, detailing receipts, disbursements, officer payments and other spending. Fox News Digital reviewed 2025 LM-2 forms filed with the Labor Department by the five unions involved in the LIRR strike, identifying payments to hotels that market themselves as premium, resorts, casinos and restaurants where menu prices sit above typical casual dining costs.
Exclusive: Major transportation union poured millions into Dem politics, casinos as workers got sold out, report finds
May 20, 2026 // The American Accountability Foundation report alleges SMART-TD poured money into Democratic candidates and liberal groups while spending heavily on entertainment, travel, casinos and resorts. The report also argues the spending shows union leadership is out of step with the purportedly “MAGA” blue-collar workers it represents.
AFT boss Randi Weingarten tapped union resources worth over $1.4M to write ‘manifesto’ book
May 20, 2026 // “Most AFT members pay dues in exchange for workplace representation, not to fund the union president’s literary pursuits,” said Maxford Nelsen, the Freedom Foundation’s director of research and government affairs. “However, AFT appears to have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in members’ dues on top-tier consultants, lawyers, and agents to get WFFT published,” Nelson went on. “Indeed, the wide range of expenses borne by AFT suggests that Weingarten may not have contributed anything at all financially to the enterprise.” Weingarten is paid $469,442 by the AFT, which boasts 1.8 million members across 3,000 local affiliates. She admitted to sharing royalties with the union and its nonprofit affiliates.
The Union You’ve Never Heard Of Is Following A Blueprint You Should Know
May 18, 2026 // In 2021, IATSE members authorized a strike by 98.7%. What followed was four years of increasingly coordinated action across entertainment unions. WGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, and the Teamsters built a solidarity coalition that showed up at each other’s picket lines in 2023, during a 148-day WGA strike and a 118-day counterpart for SAG-AFTRA. During contract negotiations, this coalition has been using pattern bargaining, and “wins” by one union become the baseline for those that follow. Each contract raises the floor for the next negotiation, and whether that method is sustainable for the industry isn’t relevant here. What matters is that other unions are watching, and they love to copycat each other.
The Department of Labor is right to make union spending transparent
May 11, 2026 // The form includes spending, assets and major receipts, to ensure union members are informed about their union’s financial condition. LM-2s also disclose relationships with affiliated groups, including political action committees, advocacy groups and other organizations that engage in electoral or issue-based campaigns. Given the amount unions spend on political activities, reporting and transparency are increasingly important. For example, in 2023 the Service Employees International Union spent 17 percent of its budget on political activities and lobbying and 16 percent on benefits and union administration. In other words, a labor union with more than 2 million members, spent nearly as much on partisan political activities as it did on protecting workers.
Teamsters still bankrolling Democrats, including Jay Jones, despite openly flirting with Trump and GOP
April 9, 2026 // “As for whether the Teamsters is compatible with the GOP, the union officialdom isn’t,” Mike Watson, an organized labor expert and director of research at the Capital Research Center, told the Washington Examiner. “The members are more open to the GOP for social-issues reasons, but the staffer class and officers are largely committed Everything Leftists.” “Everything Leftism” is a turn of phrase used to describe the tendency of some liberal staffers and activists to adopt causes seemingly unrelated to their primary area of focus;
Cost of Fed oversight of UAW skyrockets as union moves from scandal
April 1, 2026 // Barofsky's firm, Jenner & Block, has been paid $25.39 million since 2021, and the firm charged more than $7 million last year ― an increase of almost 21% from one year earlier ― as the watchdog and his team investigated Fain and several members of his team. The total cost of federal oversight, however, is much higher, considering there are additional firms working for Barofsky.
US Department of Labor launches data visualization tool for union reporting forms, providing valuable insight on union spending
March 19, 2026 // The data visualization tool release follows the department’s launch of a modern open data portal at data.dol.gov that is providing more transparency and efficiency for users to access data related to the American workforce. Both updates help bring the department into alignment with the Federal Data Strategy established during President Trump’s first administration.
Taxpayer-backed teacher unions receive $390M in dues
February 19, 2026 // Since 2022, the NEA and the American Federation of Teachers have together contributed $43.5 million to political organizations, including The Trevor Project, according to a report by the nonprofit Defending Education.