U.S. Department of Labor

Employment Standards Administration
Office of Labor-Management Standards
Milwaukee District Office
310 W. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 1160W
Milwaukee, WI 53203
(414)297-1501 Fax: (414)297-1685


September 30, 2009

 

Mr. Dennis Delie, President LM File Number: 037-294
Steelworkers AFL-CIO Local 213 Case Number: ||||||||||
810 Rolling Green Drive
Green Bay, WI 54313

Dear Mr. Delie:

This office has recently completed an audit of Steelworkers Local 213 under the Compliance Audit Program (CAP) to determine your organization’s compliance with the provisions of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA). As discussed during the exit interview with Treasurer Daniel Delcore, Financial Secretary Jackie Wawiorka, Recording Secretary Keith McKeefry, and you on September 28, 2009, the following problems were disclosed during the CAP. The matters listed below are not an exhaustive list of all possible problem areas since the audit conducted was limited in scope.

Recordkeeping Violation

Title II of the LMRDA establishes certain reporting and recordkeeping requirements. Section 206 requires, among other things, that labor organizations maintain adequate records for at least five years by which each receipt and disbursement of funds, as well as all account balances, can be verified, explained, and clarified. As a general rule, labor organizations must maintain all records used or received in the course of union business.

For disbursements, this includes not only original bills, invoices, receipts, vouchers, and applicable resolutions, but also documentation showing the nature of the union business requiring the disbursement, the goods or services received, and the identity of the recipient(s) of the goods or services. In most instances, this documentation requirement can be satisfied with a sufficiently descriptive expense receipt or invoice. If an expense receipt is not sufficiently descriptive, a union officer or employee should write a note on it providing the additional information. For money it receives, the labor organization must keep at least one record showing the date, amount, purpose, and source of that money. The labor organization must also retain bank records for all accounts.

The audit of Local 213’s 2008 records revealed the following recordkeeping violation:

Meal Expenses

Local 213 did not require officers and employees to submit itemized receipts for meal expenses totaling at least $826. Itemized receipts provided by restaurants to officers and employees must be maintained. These itemized receipts are necessary to determine if such disbursements are for union business purposes and to sufficiently fulfill the recordkeeping requirement of LMRDA Section 206.

Records of meal expenses must include written explanations of the union business conducted and the full names and titles of all persons who incurred the restaurant charges. Also, the records retained must identify the names of the restaurants where the officers or employees incurred meal expenses.

Based on your assurance that Local 213 will retain adequate documentation in the future, OLMS will take no further enforcement action at this time regarding the above violations.

Other Issues

1. Overpayment of Per Diem

The audit revealed that both Recording Secretary Keith McKeefry and you were overpaid $15.00 each in per diem for the trip to the national paper bargaining committee held in Pittsburg, PA from April 27, 2008 through April 30, 2008. It appears that Recording Secretary McKeefry and you were erroneously paid per diem for the first and last day for Philadelphia, PA, not Pittsburg, PA. Recording Secretary McKeefry indicated that this was an error when the vouchers for the per diem payments were being completed. I suggest that per diem payments be more carefully reviewed in the future to ensure that officers and employees are paid the proper per diem amounts.

2. Missing Dues Checkoff Reports

During the exit interview on September 28, 2009, I advised you that Local 213 failed to retain the dues checkoff reports from the Little Rapids Paper Mill for August 2008 and December 2008. Financial Secretary Jackie Wawiorka stated that she has the two checkoff reports at her home and promised to fax copies of the checkoff reports to me. As noted above, labor organizations must retain original receipts, bills, and vouchers for all disbursements. The president and treasurer (or corresponding principle officers) of your union, who are required to sign your union’s Labor Organization Annual Report (Form LM-3), are responsible for properly maintaining union records.

Please provide copies of the August and December 2008 checkoff reports as soon as possible.

I want to extend my personal appreciation to Steelworkers Local 213 for the cooperation and courtesy extended during this compliance audit. I strongly recommend that you make sure this letter and the compliance assistance materials provided to you are passed on to future officers. If we can provide any additional assistance, please do not hesitate to call.

Sincerely,

 

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Senior Investigator

cc: Daniel Delcore, treasurer
Jackie Wawiorka, financial secretary
Keith McKeefry, recording secretary