Labor Dept. Rescinds Bush's Onerous LM-2/LM-3 Revisions

Burdensome financial disclosure rules for labor unions that the Bush administration issued on its last day in office have been rescinded by the Department of Labor.

The Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards said the rules, involving the annual filing of LM-2 and LM-3 forms for large and small unions, were unnecessary and burdensome. The rules had been set to take effect Feb. 20, but the Obama administration delayed the effective date pending further review.

The Labor Department pointed out that federal law "requires a balancing of transparency with the need to maintain union autonomy without overburdening unions with reporting requirements." It said the Bush Administration's revisions "did not adequately consider this balance."

The very fact that the DOL had issued the rule the morning of the day Obama was sworn in indicates that politics was really behind the changes. "The intent of the new regulation was harassment, pure and simple," said CWA Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Rechenbach.