On the 26th of October, DOL rescinded the 2007 Form LM-30 (conflicts-of-interests reports) and ignored statutory language to eliminate thousands of union officials from disclosing potential conflicts-of-interests when it created the 2011 Form LM-30.  DOL’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) continued to lower standards by creating new exclusions and loopholes for ethically-challenged union officials to hide their activities.

As previously noted on BigGovernment.com, Obama’s OLMS Director John Lund has his own conflict-of-interest problems since he arrived at the U.S. Department of Labor regarding his Big Labor clients.  Lund has teamed up with similarly-conflicted former AFL-CIO lawyer, and now DOL’s Deputy Solicitor of Labor Deborah Greenfield.  (Greenfield was suing DOL to try to eliminate 2007 Form LM-30 disclosure reports, the one’s that the Solicitor of Labor’s office just approved eliminating.)   It is not surprising with these two at DOL, that it has chosen to promulgate a rule that guts union officer conflicts-of-interest reporting.

John Lund’s union clients and Deborah Greenfield’s AFL-CIO comrades will directly benefit from DOL’s new rule, and under their advice will accomplish what Greenfield’s AFL-CIO lawsuit couldn’t accomplish through the courts.

Even though 'Jobs' is supposed to be the Obama Administration's #1 priority, it appears that the U.S. Labor Department's focus is on regs that will only help union bosses.

The Labor Department has even become so bold that it does not appear to care what it writes as justification for its actions.   For example, the LM-30 final rule describes an obvious potential for a conflict-of-interest even as it states there is no potential for conflict-of-interest.

“Employers have historically agreed to compensate stewards, safety and health committee representatives, and others for such work because they see it as adding value to their organizations. …Having employees serve on employee assistance programs and wellness committees is also seen as a cost-effective business decision by many employers. The Department concurs with those commenters who stated that union leave and no docking arrangements increase the speed of grievance adjustments, and otherwise benefit labor-management relations. The Department does not view the section 202 reporting provisions as requiring the reporting of such mutually beneficial arrangements between employers and employees.”

It is bizarre.

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You need to act before Wednesday. At a time when the Obama Administration is clamoring to save or create jobs, his Department of Labor is about to sucker punch America’s job creators with an unprecedented regulatory overreach—all to curry more favor with union bosses.

On Wednesday, the public comment period will be closing on a Department of Labor proposal that the majority of America knows nothing about and even fewer understand.

If enacted as drafted, the union cronies within the Department of Labor will require every private-sector employer and service provider (whether or not they ever talk directly to employees) to file financial statements with the Obama Labor Department if the service provider’s services indirectly affect employees’ choice to unionize or not.

Unless you act by commenting here, this rule change will likely take affect. [See link to a downloadable sample comment below.]

Once the financial information—which includes the service provider’s entire company (or firm’s) receipts (even from other clients)—are submitted, it will become public information. It will then be published on the Department of Labor’s website and available to union bosses. What’s more, willful failure to file the financial information is a criminal violation, punishable by either imprisonment, a fine, or both. (more…)

Any day now, the U.S. Department of Labor, under former Big Labor treasurer and now Obama’s current Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, intends to announce a new definition for the term “Employer” that will protect her union boss friends.

When the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) passed, Congress defined the term “Employer” very broadly as “any employer or any group or association of employers engaged in an industry affecting commerce … an employer within the meaning of any law of the United States relating to the employment of any employees.” (Emphasis added)

Pretty broad definition: “any law of the United States;” and yet, John Lund, the union labor consultant who heads OLMS, intends to exclude all labor unions from the definition of employer, no matter how many employees the union has.  There is one exception to DOL’s proposed rule, and that is that if the union is trying to organize employees of another union or influence its own employees, then the word “Employer” would pertain to union bosses.

Why the change? Because John Lund wants to exclude himself and other union labor consultants from the onerous new “Employer” and “Labor Consultants” regulations that DOL is currently proposing.  If union bosses were covered by the ‘Employer’ definition, then Big Labor law firms like the NEA’s Bredhoff & Kaiser would be required to file the new reports in order to comply with its new regulations. This Employer definition change will effectively eliminate union bosses from ever having to disclose timely details of their payments to Justice for Janitors, Interfaith Worker Justice, or any other Big Labor front groups participating in their labor persuader activities.

So while Obama’s Labor Department claims to want employees to be made aware of who is trying to influence them, they are actually helping hiding this very type of information from employees regarding all of Big Labor band of rogues who create chaos at the work site, for vendors, City Halls, and Capitol Buildings. (more…)

Without additional transparency and tighter enforcement of proxy-voting requirements, publicly-held companies could be pressured into accommodating political agendas that are detached from the economic interests of retirement funds, according to a U.S. Department of Labor Inspector General audit released in March.

Since average Americans are reliant upon retirement plans that invest in corporate stock, they are entitled to know whether or not shareholder recommendations are made with an eye toward potential financial gain, or if public policy motives have worked their way into the process.

Proxy advisory firms, which make shareholder recommendations to investors and research proxy issues, are an integral part of this equation and deserve more scrutiny. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), formerly RiskMetrics, is widely viewed as the most influential of the advisory firms. It also appears to be joining forces with organized labor. That’s bad news for investors and bad news for the economy.

Bradford Campbell, who oversaw EBSA as the Assistant Secretary of Labor during the Bush Administration warns that, “The law protects workers by prohibiting pension plan officials and others in charge of the plan’s assets from using their positions to benefit themselves or to pursue a political agenda. Proxy voting is a fiduciary duty, and the economic interests of the plan cannot be subordinated to the personal, union or corporate interests of the person casting the vote on the plan’s behalf.”

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Today, when UFCW union member Chris Mosquera and his attorney from the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation file his lawsuit in U.S. District Court challenging the Obama-SEIU-AFL-CIO-UFCW Empire, Mr. Mosquera officially stands up to the Obama Administration. Mr. Mosquera challenges the Administration’s attacks on individual workers such as it usurpation of power from individuals through Administration’s new Big Labor Boss-friendly reg that helps conceal forced union dues shenanigans.

You may remember that within hours of arriving in the Oval Office, President Obama dispatched orders to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). These orders were not to immediately begin turning around the economy or start finding ways to encourage employers to hire more people. No. Obama’s orders were much less bold and more typical of Tammany Hall payback to Big Labor Bosses who threw a billion dollars’ worth of forced-dues assets (Time, Talent, and Treasure) behind Obama and Democrat political campaigns.

Before the Big Labor insiders at DOL made time to “help” employees and the unemployed, they set about rescinding the January 2009 union financial disclosure reform; they declared the agency would no longer enforce the 2008 union officer conflict-of-interest reports; they stopped state teacher unions’ financial disclosures; and they rescinded the requirement that unions disclose non-union enterprises that they control.

Mr. Mosquera’s actions are both courageous and necessary, not only for workers who live in forced-unionism states such as Maryland and Indiana, but for any employee who is or may be covered by a collective bargaining contract with an LMRDA-covered labor union.

Mr. Mosquera stands as a shining torch to light way for others across the U.S. to challenge the Obama Administration in court whenever the Empire exceeds its authority.

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Political operatives connected with renamed ACORN affiliates are in position to help swing close, competitive races for left-leaning candidates in the 2012 elections, according to former insiders and policy analysts who are familiar with the network’s operations.

An ambitious rebranding scheme that began earlier this year has now accelerated to include affiliates in at least 12 states. The bankruptcy filing the organization slyly submitted on Election Day is properly viewed as “a head fake” and a “public relations gimmick” arranged to distract attention away from the partisan political activities of renamed affiliates, sources say.

It is worth recalling that the organization known in full as the Association of Community Activists for Reform Now had initially denied reports that it would be dropping its tarnished name in press statements released in the summer of 2009.  Wade Rathke, who founded ACORN in 1970, had announced on his blog that ACORN International, one of many affiliate organizations, had officially changed its name to “Community Organizations International.” Former board members who came together under the banner of ACORN 8 in response to an embezzlement scandal saw the move as a possible opener to a larger rebranding effort.

Scott Levenson, a spokesman for organization’s national leadership, issued a statement claiming that the name has not been dropped and that Rathke is no longer connected with ACORN.

“ACORN is not changing its name,” he declared. “ACORN International, is a five-year old organization from which ACORN withdrew a year ago as part of an overall restructuring process and requested that they stop using the ACORN name, which they have now done. Wade Rathke was fired as Chief Organizer of ACORN in June 2008.”

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Last year, the U.S. Department eliminated regulations that required unions to file reports disclosing union officer and union employee perks.  In eliminating the regulation, several Obama Administration appointees likely violated Obama’s Executive Order 13490 that prohibits appointee involvement in regulations that impact their former employer or clients.

Again, Obama Administration appointees ignore their own conflicts of interest; this time it is to rescind conflicts of interest disclosure regulations that only benefit Big Labor Bosses!  The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is scheming to eliminate the 2007 union official conflict of interest reporting regulations – but wait there is more.

(To officially submit your comments regarding the DOL rescission, click here. Deadline to Comment is Tuesday (10/11/2010)!)

DOL Secretary Hilda Solis (former treasurer of Big Labor front group American Rights At Work), Deputy Solicitor of Labor Deborah Greenfield (who was a named litigator in a lawsuit filed by the AFL-CIO to strike down the rule that DOL now intends to rescind), and Deputy Asst. Secretary John Lund (Lund, a former Big Labor trainer and consultant to the AFL-CIO, signed the current proposed) are no doubt deeply involved in the Labor Department’s recent proposed regulation that would:

1)      Eliminate reporting of special employer payments to union officers and other union officials like shop stewards,

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Fresh from the recess appointment of former SEIU lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board, President Obama has nominated another controversial figure to a key post in his administration. In May, Obama nominated Paul Tiao for Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Labor (DOL.) The nomination is troublesome.

While presidents generally take nominees’ political views into account when making appointments, a nominee’s views should not be so far outside the political mainstream as to bring his judgment into question. And, while most executive appointments go to political allies of the president who will carry out his policies, some powerful positions like Inspector General require a much greater degree of impartiality. Tiao fails on both counts:

Tiao has advocated allowing non-citizens—including illegal aliens—to vote in U.S. elections.

In a 1993 Columbia Human Right Law Review article, “Non-Citizen Suffrage: An Argument Based on the Voting Rights Act and Related Law,” Tiao argued that all lawful permanent residents—non-citizens—should be given the right to vote in federal, state, and local elections. But that’s not all. In a footnote, Tiao makes the case for illegal aliens being given the vote, arguing that, “suffrage should be extended to other non-citizen groups as well. Tiao notes “Takoma Park [Maryland]’s Charter amendment …. technically extended suffrage to all non-citizens, including undocumented aliens.” He uses this example to argue illegal aliens should be allowed to vote.

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Actor Jimmy Smits, Obama’s Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, and co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America union and Democratic Socialists of America member Dolores Huerta have recorded Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) directed at workers “documented or not.”

In the video, the three DOL spokespersons announce the Department’s selective enforcement of U.S. laws as they explain that DOL intends to use its resources for both “documented” and “not” documented workers.  But, the real plan is to force all workers to pay union fees as a condition of employment.

U.S. Labor Sec. Hilda Solis’ 30-second script:

I’m U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, and it is a serious problem when workers in this country are not being paid every cent they earned.

Remember every worker in America has the right to be paid fairly whether documented or not.

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Part of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now’s (ACORN) rotten core includes a very cozy relationship with Big Labor.  In fact, in many instances ACORN and Big Labor are one and the same.  In 2008, Big Labor funneled ACORN millions of dollars for so-called organizing activity.  But, that is only the tip of the Big Labor iceberg.

ACORN controls or significantly dominates several Big Labor unions and organizations.  ACORN created and controls SEIU 100 (Gulf Region) and SEIU 880 (a recently expanded SEIU mega-local that covers Chicago, Illinois, Indiana, and Kansas).

ACORN founder S. Wade Rathke referred to mega-union SEIU 880 as “one of the pillars of the ACORN Family.”

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Andy Stern hand picked ACORN’s Rathke to direct SEIU’s nationwide organizing projects.

In addition to Rathke’s and ACORN’s SEIU involvement, Rathke controlled Louisiana HERE Local 100, was Secretary-Treasurer of a New Orleans based AFL-CIO labor organization, and served on the board of a hotel employees union organizing committee.

A search of financial disclosure reports (UnionReports.gov) filed with the U.S. Department of Labor for the years 2000 and 2006 disclosed the following positions that Rathke held in labor unions while he concurrently served as ACORN’s Chief Organizer:

Wade Rathke DOL Reported Union Positions (2000,2006)

ACORN’s connections extend to several other Big Labor funded organizations such as the Wal-Mart Alliance for Reform Now (WARN), Site Fighters, and Community Labor Organizing Center (CLOC).

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