Unions should be required to make public more details of their internal finances, the Labor Department said Thursday as it proposed new changes to union disclosure forms. Unions are required every year to file financial disclosure forms with the Labor Department. But federal officials are proposing a more detailed form, and penalizing small unions who get into trouble with the law by prohibiting them from filing a simple form. The proposed changes will be printed on Monday in the Federal Register. "This proposed rule provides union members with more complete information about union finances and will better protect their legal rights to transparency and accountability under the law," said Don Todd, deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Labor-Management Standards.
See "Labor Department wants more info from union officials", Jesse J. Holland, San Francisco Chronicle, May 8, 2008