DOL Shines a Light on Union Books

The Department of Labor just finalized a rule making the biggest unions open their books wider — the first real modernization of the Form LM-2 since 2003.

Quick background. Under the LMRDA, larger unions file an annual financial disclosure, the LM-2, laying out assets, spending, and salaries. The new rule from the Office of Labor-Management Standards modernizes that form, adds an enhanced “Long Form” for the nation’s largest labor organizations, and raises the filing thresholds for the smaller LM-3 and LM-4 forms — thresholds untouched since 1992.

Per OLMS Director Elisabeth Messenger, “Modern unions are financially complex organizations” — many reporting tens of millions in assets a year.

Why it matters. Dues fund all of it, and members are the ones paying. More disclosure means a member can actually see where that money goes — representation, salaries, politics. It also makes fraud and embezzlement harder to hide.

To me, this is the right kind of rule. I write a lot about what I’d call “Finance Unionism” — unions as large financial enterprises, not just bargaining agents. If a union collects dues and asks members to trust its stewardship, showing the books is a feature, not a burden.

The open question: will members actually read the filings? Transparency only works if someone’s looking. I know I’ll be looking, will you?