LOS ANGELES, CA – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has sentenced John S. Romero – a former president of the United Industrial and Service Workers of America in Colton, California – to 12 years in prison for embezzling funds from the union’s health plan, conspiracy and making false statements on annual government filings.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) has released its annual fiscal year summary of its performance and program activities in its 2020 Annual Report today. OLMS administers and enforces most provisions of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA).

WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia issued the following statement regarding a consent order entered in a federal court in Michigan today:

“The consent order entered today by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan takes an important step toward ending the corruption that in recent years has afflicted the leadership of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW).

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) posted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would increase and enhance financial transparency for unions regulated by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA).  

NEW YORK, NY – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has sentenced John Ulrich – former vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 812 and former trustee of the Local 812 Health Fund – to 18 months in jail for soliciting bribe payments in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

ATLANTA, GA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), the U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, has sentenced Tony Westly – a former business manager and financial secretary-treasurer for Plasterers and Cement Masons AFL-CIO, Local 148 – to 6 months in prison and 3 years of probation which includes 6 months of home confinement, for embezzlement.

RALEIGH, NC – The U.S. District Court Eastern District of North Carolina, in Raleigh, North Carolina, has sentenced former union president Keith Alan Ludlum to 14 months in prison and ordered him to pay $213,201 in restitution after a U.S. Department of Labor Office of Labor-Management Standards’ (OLMS) investigation.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) is working to ensure timely compliance with its recently published final rule requiring the filing of annual financial disclosure reports for “trusts in which a labor organization is interested.” These reports are to be filed with OLMS on the new Form T-1 Trust Annual Report.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) today announced a final rule to establish the “Form T-1” Trust Annual Report that requires unions to file annual financial reports concerning their trusts. These annual reports will increase the financial transparency of unions and ensure that members have access to information about their union’s financial transactions. The Federal Register will publish the final rule on March 6, 2020.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) today announced significant increases in the number of indictments and criminal investigations in Fiscal Year 2019 along with a drop in the number of days OLMS took to resolve union officer election complaints.

WASHINGTON DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would increase financial transparency and democratic procedures for intermediate bodies under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA), also known as the Landrum-Griffin Act.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced actions it is taking to assist Americans in states affected by Hurricane Dorian.

"The U.S. Department of Labor is actively engaged in Administration-wide efforts to help those impacted by Hurricane Dorian," said Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella. "As Americans from across the country rally to help each other, the Department of Labor is committed to supporting recovery efforts."

U.S. Department of Labor actions taken regarding Hurricane Dorian include the following:

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) will continue to invest in its Voluntary Compliance Partnership (VCP) program with 43 prominent international and national labor unions throughout the country to help strengthen the compliance performance of approximately 16,000 intermediate and local labor union affiliates.

DETROIT, MI – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has sentenced three defendants as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into a multi-year scheme in which Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US LLC (FCA) executives made payoffs to senior United Auto Workers International Union (UAW) officials involved in collective bargaining agreements between the union and the company. 

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor has rescinded the 2016 Persuader Rule, which exceeded the authority of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). The Persuader Rule impinged on attorney-client privilege by requiring confidential information to be part of disclosures and was strongly condemned by many stakeholders, including the American Bar Association. A federal court has ruled that the Persuader Rule was incompatible with the law and client confidentiality.

ST. PAUL, MN – The State of Minnesota’s 2nd Judicial District Court in Ramsey County has sentenced Latasha Lee Rosetta Wilson - former treasurer of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 1969 - to 20 years of probation and 100 hours of community service after she pleaded guilty to making $58,150 in unauthorized cash withdrawals from the union.

The court ordered Wilson to make full restitution to the local union that represents U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employees in the Twin Cities area, and fined her.

NEWARK, NJ – After a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has sentenced Paul Moe, Sr., a member of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and general foreman for a Port Elizabeth terminal operator, to 24 months in prison for fraudulently collecting a nearly $500,000 annual salary, much of which was for work he never performed. The court also sentenced Moe to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $749,000 in restitution.

WASHINGTON – A multi-agency investigation has led to a federal grand jury indictment of the former Vice President for Employee Relations for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US LLC.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to rescind a rule that would have required employers and labor-management consultants to report consultants’ indirect contact with workers during union organizing campaigns. 

WASHINGTON – Many characterize union organizing campaigns as debates between management and labor over the impact of unionization on businesses and workers. Today, employers commonly engage third-party consultants in crafting and delivering anti-union messages to workers. Workers often do not know when employers engage consultants behind the scenes to influence their decisions.