Alabama Court Verdict Assists Fight for Union Financial Transparency
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: John Kartch
14 APRIL 2008
202-785-0266
Alabama Court Verdict Assists Fight for Union Financial Transparency
State-Level Public Sector Unions Must Now Disclose
Washington, D.C. — Today, the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF), an organization that advocates for the protection of workers rights, praised the recent judicial ruling which forces the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) to comply with federal union financial disclosure laws. Previously, state chapters of national unions were not required to comply with the financial reporting requirements established by law under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA).
This unprecedented ruling will require the state chapter of a public sector union for the first time in history to publically disclose its finances to the Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS), the agency responsible for monitoring union financial compliance. According to AWF policy director Brian Johnson, union financial transparency is not just about legal compliance, it is about protecting the union members from financial mismanagement and fraud. “The reason OLMS requires union financial reporting forms is to ensure the basic principles of responsibility and accountability on the part of union bosses,” says Johnson. “Members’ dues should be used to provide services for the members – not on political endorsement or squandered in politically motivated investments where the member would otherwise never sink a willing penny!”
The Alabama Education Association sought to overturn a Department of Labor interpretation which established them covered under financial reporting requirements. Thirty-nine state level affiliations of the National Education Association opposed this ruling.
“Labor unions have not been beacons of financial purity,” says Johnson in reference to the OLMS convicting over 780 union members on criminal finance charges and restoring over $110 million in dues since 2001. “This verdict ensures that millions of rank-and-file union member’s dues’ are not being mismanaged and provides sound precedent against future union appeals.”
Johnson says that union financial transparency is the crux of worker freedom and that this ruling is “a step in the right direction.” AWF will continue to monitor this issue and urges all states to adopt public sector union transparency laws to protect the best interest of the worker.
