Posts tagged Transparency
Plan Sponsors Get Go-Ahead on Alternatives as DOL Shifts Stance
August 22, 2025 // For plan sponsors, this regulatory shift provides much-needed clarity and removes a significant deterrent that had been hanging over alternative investment discussions. The DOL has essentially returned to a neutral, principles-based approach that allows fiduciaries to evaluate all investment options based on their merits rather than facing special scrutiny for considering alternatives.
Trump Is Making Major Concessions To Union Bosses. Is It Worth It?
August 15, 2025 // The Institute for the American Worker noted that union members who had funds embezzled by their leaders in recent years would now have less insight into how their dues were being spent. For example, in 2024, the Secretary-Treasurer of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 2198 pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $63,000; under the proposed rule, the group would no longer have to file an LM-2.
THE BLUE DIVIDE
August 13, 2025 // The documents are an incomplete and opaque window into the finances for the Survivors’ Fund and Lodge 5, which are both 501(c) nonprofits. Another FOP nonprofit, the Home Association, operates the 7C Lounge, an expansive bar decorated in gleaming dark wood in the union’s 50,000-square-foot headquarters. A comprehensive financial picture of the nonprofits would be possible only by examining all credit card statements, receipts, and records. Those records are not publicly available, and even union members say FOP leaders have only allowed them to view a limited selection of documents.
Commentary: Blatant Lawlessness
August 7, 2025 // A new Yankee Institute report, Blatant Lawlessness: How the CT Department of Labor & Union Leaders Disrespect Union Workers and Ignore the Law, highlights the Connecticut Department of Labor’s (CT DOL’s) failure to enforce vital state laws. These laws require unions to provide financial transparency to their members, and the state’s non-enforcement leaves dues-paying workers vulnerable to potential mismanagement and corruption. Enacted in 1959, Connecticut General Statutes Sec. 31-77 mandates that unions representing public and private sector employees submit verified annual financial reports to the CT DOL and make them available to members.
Educator urges Illinois teachers to reject union pressure, politics and coercion
August 7, 2025 // Sarah Fletcher, a former charter school educator and now the Head of School at White Horse Academy, a private school, said her own teaching career trajectory was shaped by a desire to avoid union involvement altogether. “When we moved here to Illinois from Arizona, I had very little interest in teaching at the public school,” Fletcher said. “Part of that was because I didn’t want to be pressured into or have to be mandated to pay dues. The IEA and IFT, which are part of larger organizations like the NEA, use the majority of their funds not to represent teachers, but for political advocacy.”
Novato city workers plan to strike for 2nd day Wednesday over sales tax funds
August 7, 2025 // According to the city's website, the measure's rise in sales tax from 8.5% to 9.25% should generate $10 million annually and help the city mend its $4 million budget deficit through the 2025/2026 fiscal year. Novato has cut city staffing by over 30 positions to manage a growing budget deficit, the city's site said, and one-time COVID-19 federal recovery funding that helped protect essential services has been depleted.
UAW Faction Seeks to Oust President Fain in Sign of Union Unrest
August 6, 2025 // Turnout at some locals has been small. At the Sterling Heights plant that voted over the weekend, 63 workers showed up with all but one voting to oust Fain, Pillsbury said. The plant has 6,200 employees. If the union challenges any of the victories because of low voter turnout or for any other reason, he said he wants enough wins to maintain the six victories needed to push ahead.
Union Reporting Threshold Threatens Worker Transparency
August 3, 2025 // Another issue is the lack of plain language on the LM 2 forms themselves. For example, they categorize money coming into the union as “receipts” — yet to most union members, a receipt is something someone receives after paying for something. The forms should be at a grade 10 reading level and broken down in one line, a simple explanation
LaborLab Exposes Employers’ Use of Anti-Union Persuaders in Recent Filings
July 29, 2025 // Among the notable cases, The Tustin Group in Fairfield, NJ, and American Rock Products in Yakima, WA, were found to have engaged persuader services at significant hourly rates. American Rock Products’ case is particularly striking as the union won the election, yet the consulting agreement was filed post-election. Similarly, Alro Steel Corporation in Jackson, MI, and Medix Ambulance Service in Hillsboro, OR, have also been implicated, with the former’s union losing the election and the latter’s case still open. These revelations underscore the importance of transparency and adherence to labor laws in protecting workers’ rights to organize. The delayed filings by some employers raise questions about the effectiveness of current regulations and the need for stricter enforcement to prevent undue influence on union elections
Unveiling Financial Transparency Failures in Labor Organizations
July 24, 2025 // In 2024 alone, the DOL recorded 177 union enforcement actions involving fraud, embezzlement, wire fraud, and falsified records. These are only the crimes that rise to the level of federal prosecution. Far more ethical violations, financial misuses, and questionable behaviors fall below the radar leaving union members in the dark and are quietly buried through internal repayments, hush resignations, or legal threats — all without any formal DOL investigation or public accountability. Despite 16 years as a union official, I did not become aware of the existence of LM-2 financial disclosure filings until our local filed a lawsuit against our state affiliate. Imagine that: even as a union president and past treasurer, I was unaware that both our state and national unions were required to submit LM-2 forms to the Department of Labor. If someone like me — deeply engaged in union governance — was kept in the dark, how can we expect average members to know their rights, much less exercise them?