Attorney Brandon Grysko had the chance to catch up with Bob Carroll from Permanent Solutions Labor Consultants (PSLC). Brandon and Bob discussed the recent Department of Labor press release regarding revisions to Form LM-2, which intends to increase financial transparency for unions.

This proposed rulemaking offers a revision to Form LM-2 and would also introduce an enhanced Form LM-2LF for much larger labor organizations. The Department of Labor’s overall goal is transparency, looking to curb union scandals that have come to light in recent years.

Form LM-2 is used as a tax-return of sorts so union members can understand what their dues pay for, as well as what their union is paying for. But Bob would mention from his experiences in previous union campaigns, a great number of members do not know what Form LM-2 is or even how to access it.

On top of that, unions are getting very crafty in the way they report their spending. Take the UAW for example, there are local and regional chapters that each report an LM-2, so it’s easy for that money to get lost in the fold so to speak. However, the UAW’s embezzlement and fraudulent activities were discovered through their LM-2 Forms, now leaving them on the brink of a federal takeover.

While this is currently just a proposal, and it was not specifically stated what revisions will be made to Form LM-2. More union transparency is always a good thing for its members, but the DOL will need to clamp down on this decision hard. With the environment most labor sectors are experiencing, unions need transparency and to execute the job they were created to do; protect the American worker.

Do you think this proposed rulemaking will do anything to impact the way Unions report their financial assets? Have you ever seen an LM-2 Form?

Thanks once again to Bob Carroll from Permanent Solutions Labor Consultants for joining me to have this discussion on this recently proposed rulemaking. If you have questions for Bob Carroll, he can be reached by email or by phone at 313-914-2017. If you have questions about this proposed rulemaking, or about the direction, your business is heading, contact Business Attorney Brandon Grysko. Brandon can be reached by email or by phone at 248-380-0000.