U.S. Department of Labor

Office of Labor-Management Standards
St. Louis Office
1222 Spruce Street, Suite 9.109E
St. Louis, MO 63103
(314) 539-2667 Fax: (314) 539-2626






April 3, 2014



Mr. John Finder, Secretary Treasurer
Bricklayers District Council
2000 Market Street
St. Louis, MO 63103
Case Number: 510-6000720
LM Number: 020915


Dear Mr. Finder:

This office has recently completed an audit of Bricklayers District Council 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 you and accountant Mark Hollman on March 24, 2014, 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 1’s 2013 records revealed the following recordkeeping violation:


Lack of Salary Authorization

Bricklayers District Council did not maintain records to verify that the salaries reported in Schedules 11 (All Officers and Disbursements to Officers) and 12 (Disbursements to Employees) of the LM-2 was the authorized amount and therefore was correctly reported. The union must keep a record, such as meeting minutes, to show the current salary authorized by the entity or individual in the union with the authority to establish salaries.

The District Council provided documentation showing the salary for the positions of director and secretary treasurer. The District Council was unable to provide the same documentation for the salary of the business agents and office staff. They agreed to address the salary authorization at the next executive board meeting and document the information in the meeting minutes.

Based on your assurance that the Bricklayers District Council will retain adequate documentation in the future, OLMS will take no further enforcement action at this time regarding the above violation.

I want to extend my personal appreciation to Bricklayers District Council 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,




Senior Investigator


cc: Mr. Mark Hollman, Accountant