Office of Labor-Management Standards 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Labor-Management Standards of the Department of Labor (Department) is revising the Form LM-30 Labor Organization Officer and Employee Report and its instructions upon review of the comments received in response to its August 10, 2010 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NRPM). The Form LM-30 implements section 202 of the Labor- Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA or Act), the purpose of which is to require officers and employees of labor organizations (unions) to publicly disclose possible conflicts between their personal financial interests and their duty to the labor union and its members. The rule revises the Form LM-30 and its instructions, based on an examination of the policy and legal justifications for, and utility of, changes enacted in the Form LM-30 Final Rule (2007 rule), published on July 2, 2007. The principal revisions are: Union leave and no docking payments are not required to be reported on the Form LM-30; union stewards and others representing the union in similar positions are not covered by the Form LM-30 reporting requirements; the requirement to report certain bona fide loans is limited, as is reporting of payments from certain trusts, unions, and employers in competition with employers whose employees are represented by an official's union; and the scope of reporting required of officers and employees of international, national, and intermediate body unions is revised. This rule also establishes a new form and instructions, as well as regulatory text concerning certain reporting obligations. This rule largely implements the Department's proposal in the NPRM, with modifications of several minor aspects of the layout of the form and instructions.

This document corrects the preamble and the regulatory text of the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that was published in the Federal Register on June 21, 2011 (76 FR 36178), regarding the interpretation of Section 203 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. 433, and corresponding revisions to the Form LM-10 Employer Report and to the Form LM-20 Agreement and Activities Report. This correction clarifies that the NPRM intended to propose a technical revision to 29 CFR 406.2, which was inadvertently omitted from the preamble and the proposed revised regulatory text of the NPRM.

This notice is a request for information from the public to assist the Department of Labor (``Department'') in issuing guidelines concerning the use of electronic voting systems in union officer elections. ``Electronic voting systems'' is meant to include: Electronic voting machines used for casting votes at polling sites; electronic voting from remote site personal computers via the Internet; and electronic voting from remote site telephones. ``Electronic voting systems'' is not meant to include electronic tabulation systems where votes are cast non-electronically but counted electronically (such as punch card voting or optical scanning systems). Title IV of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (``LMRDA'') establishes democratic standards for the conduct of union officer elections. The LMRDA does not, however, require a particular method or system of voting. Labor organizations are free to establish their own methods or systems of voting for officer elections as long as they are consistent with lawful provisions in the union's constitution and bylaws and the provisions of Title IV of the LMRDA. Labor organizations and other interested parties have sought guidance from the Department regarding the LMRDA compliance of electronic voting systems. This request for information seeks public comment to assist the Department in the consideration and issuance of such guidance.