Republicans, Big Business in uproar
over cuts to union oversight agency
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Repub-
licans and Big Business leaders are in
an uproar over a vote by U.S. House
Democrats not to restore a small cut in
funding to the Office of Labor-Man-
agement Standards.
OLMS is a division of the U.S. De-
partment of Labor. It was set up under
the 1959 Landrum-Griffin Act and is
charged with monitoring financial dis-
closures by unions. Under the anti-
union Bush Administration, OLMS
has seen its funding increased by 33
percent and its staffing increased from
290 full time employees to 406 —
while other agencies within the De-
partment of Labor have had their
budgets and staffing slashed.
Since 2001, OLMS has adopted
new reporting rules that have required
unions to spend millions of dollars in
new software. The national AFL-CIO
says union officials also have been
forced to spend time plowing through
reporting requirements that track the
smallest of expenditures (including the
purchase of paperclips), leaving them
less time to serve current members and
to assist prospective new members in
organizing.
In his appropriations budget for the
Labor, Health and Human Services
and Education departments, Bush pro-
posed a 14.6 percent increase — to
$56.9 million in 2008.
The House bill version reduced
OLMS funding to $45.7 million from
$47.8 million.
An attempt by Republicans to re-
store $2 million to OLMS’ budget was
defeated 186-237 on a mostly party-
line vote, touching off the uproar.
In Vancouver, Wash., the Colum-
bian newspaper on July 24 attacked
Third District Congressman Brian
Baird for his vote not to restore the
funding. (All of Oregon’s congres-
sional Democrats voted the same as
Baird.)
Following the talking points of Re-
publicans, Big Business and the Na-
tional Right-to-Work Committee, the
newspaper derided Baird and the De-
Broadway Floral
mocrats for targeting OLMS and “pro-
tecting unions.”
“If fiscal concern is crucial, why
was OLMS targeted by House De-
mocrats as the sole division in the De-
partment of Labor that will face fund-
ing cuts?” the newspaper asked.
The Columbian made no mention
that Democratic lawmakers approved
increases in funding for all the other
investigative offices within the Depart-
ment of Labor .
During debate on the amendment
on July 17, House Appropriations
Committee Chairman David Obey (D-
Wis.) said “(OLMS) has been doing
very well while other portions of the
Labor Department that are supposed to
focus on protecting workers have, in
fact, been starved.”
Obey said the Wage and Hour Divi-
sion, which is supposed to enforce
protection for workers on minimum
wage, overtime and child labor laws,
will have seen its staffing drop by over
12 percent since 2001, and the staff
level at the Office of Federal Contract
Compliance, which protects workers
from unfair employment practices by
federal contractors, will have dropped
by 23 percent.
In his defense, Baird told the
Columbian newspaper: “I’m 100 per-
cent for investigating union corruption,
but it would be a more balanced ap-
proach if the Bush Administration had
shown this strong a commitment to in-
vestigating abuse of workers and pro-
tecting workers’ rights here and
abroad.”
Later, in a second attempt to restore
funding to OLMS, U.S. Rep. John
Kline (R-Minn.) offered an amend-
ment to cut $3 million from the U.S.
contribution (via the Department of
Labor) to the International Labour Or-
ganization for its campaigns against
child labor and workers’ rights abuses.
That move died, too.
John Edwards will
speak at Oregon
AFL-CIO convention
Democratic presidential candi-
date John Edwards will be the
keynote speaker at this year’s Ore-
gon AFL-CIO convention.
The convention will be held in
Seaside Oct. 7-10.
Edwards has been confirmed to
speak on Tuesday, July 9, Oregon
AFL-CIO President Tom Chamber-
lain told the NW Labor Press.
Vancouver non-profit that helps homeless
seeks union sponsors for upcoming event
VANCOUVER — Share House, an
organization that serves the homeless
and hungry in Clark County, is looking
for union locals to sponsor a benefit
basketball tournament this summer.
Hoops on the River is a 3-on-3 bas-
ketball tournament slated Aug. 18-19
at Vancouver Landing, located down-
town along the Columbia River. Reg-
istration is expected to reach 200 teams
and drawing over 1,500 spectators.
Share, founded in 1977, operates
four shelters for single men, single
women and families. It provides meals
for the homeless and low-income in
the greater Vancouver area, and pro-
vides street outreach and case manage-
ment programs for the homeless.
The basketball tournament sponsor-
ships start at $200.
For more information, call Pam
Tower-Penrose, development director,
360-695-7658 or go to www.sharevan-
couver.org.
E
E
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