NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | June 3, 2016 | PAGE 11
GOP-led House panel votes to block union-buster disclosure rule
The House Education and
Workforce Committee in a 21-
10 party-line vote May 18 ap-
proved Republican legislation
that would block the U.S. De-
partment of Labor’s (DOL) so-
called persuader rule. The new
rule requires companies that hire
anti-union labor relations con-
sultants to report how much
they pay those consultants, and
disclose the scope of the work
they are doing.
That was the law of the land
in 1959 when Congress passed
the Labor-Management Report-
ing and Disclosure Act (LM-
RDA). Because of that law, you
can go to the DOL web site and
get detailed information about
union finances and salaries. The
law was supposed to apply to la-
bor relations consultants too.
But in 1962, the DOL inter-
preted the law in a way that cre-
ated a giant loophole: If consult-
ants didn’t have direct contact
with workers, they weren’t re-
quired to file a report. Ever since
then, most union-busting con-
sultants have spent their time
training managers and supervi-
sors to deliver their scripted
anti-union messages, while
themselves remaining “behind
the curtain” to avoid disclosure.
Getting rid of that loophole
was one of the first things union
leaders asked President Barack
Obama to do when he was
elected in 2008. It took until
March 23 of this year for that to
happen.
But in a five-hour hearing on
May 18, the Republican-con-
trolled House Education and
Workforce Committee took the
first step to block implementa-
tion of the rule with passage of
House Joint Resolution 87. Un-
der the Congressional Review
Act, Congress can pass a reso-
lution of disapproval to prevent
a federal agency from imple-
menting a rule or issuing a sub-
stantially similar rule without
congressional authorization.
Committee Chair Rep. John
Kline (R-Minn.) said in a press
release that the new regulation
“will undermine the ability of
employers to communicate with
employees and deprive workers
of the information they need to
make fully-informed decisions
in union elections.”
But Rep. Suzanne Bonimici
(D-OR), said the new rule sim-
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ply allows workers to know
when their employer has hired a
consultant—including anti-
union firms—to influence what
managers and supervisors say to
workers, and to report how
much they spend for the service.
“The Department of Labor
has taken action to level the
playing field and provide trans-
parency for workers. Basic fair-
ness dictates that workers
should know who is responsible
for the information they re-
ceive,” Bonamici said.
The ranking Democrat on the
committee, Rep. Bobby Scott
(D-Va.) told The Hill newspaper
the rule would “pull back the
curtain” on companies that are
looking to block unions from or-
ganizing.
“Some opponents argue that
the workers have a right to hear
both sides of the debate. I
agree,” Scott said. “But, as they
hear both sides, workers deserve
to know whether or not what
they are hearing is a product of
certain well-known consultants
hired to influence their decisions
and how much their employers
are paying them to influence
their views.”
The DOL predicts it will re-
ceive disclosures from about
3,414 employers and 2,601 ad-
visers each year.
According to The Hill news-
paper, the resolution is likely to
pass in both the House and Sen-
ate, but faces an almost-certain
veto from President Obama.
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