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Bush seeks to bury unions under a costly pile of new accounting paperwork

Date Posted: October 17 2003

WASHINGTON - President Bush sent another signal of his open disdain for the nation's workers and organized labor on Oct. 3, by imposing new onerous and costly bookkeeping rules on labor unions.

The new rules required by Bush's Labor Department could cost U.S. unions as much as $1 billion per year, according to the AFL-CIO. But in the wake of billion dollar financial scandals at companies like Enron and WorldCom, and controversies surrounding huge executive salaries, the president has made no movement toward imposing similar financial reporting rules on corporations.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the new rules are "craftily designed to weaken unions - the strongest advocates for American workers - as our nation prepares for the 2004 elections."

According to the Wall Street Journal, effective with financial reports beginning Jan. 1, 2004, unions with $250,000 or more in annual receipts will be required to itemize certain receipts and payments of $5,000 or more and file them electronically.

Existing financial union financial disclosure forms, said Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, "provide little of value to rank-and-file members about their unions' finances and operations." She said the requirements will also "empower and protect workers who entrust their unions to protect their interests."

It will also cut into union finances and create a mountain of paperwork, leaving unions less time for contract negotiations, grievance handling, organizing and other core activities. The Airline Pilots Association estimates that the new rules would result in the creation of a stack of 5 ½ feet of new paperwork each year.

The new financial reporting requirements for unions, said AFL-CIO Building Trades Department President Edward Sullivan, "are intended to bury unions in red tape and needless costs. There can be no other legitimate conclusion considering that labor unions already adhere to standardized practices in tracking their finances, including budgets, salaries, loans and expenses."

Sullivan said the Building Trades Department repeatedly contacted the Bush Administration, seeking to enter into negotiated rulemaking over the new rules, but was turned down.

"Simultaneously, this Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission are aggressively seeking to neutralize attempts to tighten laws governing corporate disclosure and deficient financial reporting," Sullivan said. "This clearly demonstrates a double standard as unions are being held to a higher standard than the very corporate criminals who looted their corporate treasuries, bankrupted their companies, and destroyed their employees' retirement funds."