Ranking Member Cassidy Rebukes DOL’s Failure to Provide Requested Information on New Policy Unfairly Targeting Businesses

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, rebuked the Department of Labor (DOL) for failing to provide details on its new policy that compels businesses to produce information related to union activity beyond the scope of DOL’s authority. Earlier this year, Cassidy requested DOL provide details about its enforcement of this policy as well as its legal authority to force businesses to provide this information. To date, DOL has failed to provide adequate responses to Cassidy’s inquiry. 

Under the Landrum-Griffin Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), employers are required to disclose any funds spent on “persuader activity,” or funding used during union representation campaigns to persuade employees against unionizing. The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), the office within DOL responsible for enforcing LMRDA, has begun enforcing a new policy that compels employers to provide information such as employee wages that is not related to LMRDA and beyond the scope of its enforcement power. 

“It is alleged that OLMS is requiring employers to file persuader reports on their own corporate officers who discuss collective bargaining with workers. This type of reporting is explicitly exempted under Section 203(e) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959...,” wrote Dr. Cassidy. “Such requests are also contrary to OLMS’ own interpretive manual, which makes clear where Section 203(e) exemptions do and do not apply.” 

“My July letter requested information on OLMS reporting requirements, the legal authority OLMS is relying on to require employers to file persuader reports on their own corporate officers, and for a list of all employers DOL is requiring to produce this type of information. DOL, under your leadership, failed to answer these questions,” continued Dr. Cassidy. 

DOL’s failure to adequately respond to inquiries from Congress has become a concerning trend. Last week, Cassidy also demanded accountability from the Department of Labor (DOL) for failing to provide answers on what efforts it is taking to combat the rising exploitation of migrant children following reports indicating that senior DOL and White House officials repeatedly ignored warnings and downplayed the exploitation of migrant children. To date, DOL has not provided sufficient answers to these questions.   

Read full letter here or below.

Dear Acting Secretary Su:

I am following up on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) August 18, 2023 response to my July 25, 2023 letter addressed to you concerning alarming reports that DOL’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) is demonstrating a concerted effort to distort federal statutes to favor unions.

It is alleged that OLMS is requiring employers to file persuader reports on their own corporate officers who discuss collective bargaining with workers. This type of reporting is explicitly exempted under Section 203(e) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, which states:

“[n]othing contained in this section shall be construed to require any regular officer, supervisor, or employee of an employer to file a report in connection with services rendered to such employer nor shall any employer be required to file a report covering expenditures made to any regular officer, supervisor, or employee of an employer as compensation for service.”^[1]

Such requests are also contrary to OLMS’ own interpretive manual, which makes clear where Section 203(e) exemptions do and do not apply. For example, OLMS states that no report is required of a labor relations director who is a “regular staff member” and delivers his or her employer’s message on its employees’ right to unionize.^[2]

My July letter requests information on OLMS reporting requirements, the legal authority OLMS is relying on to require employers to file persuader reports on their own corporate officers, and for a list of all employers DOL is requiring to produce this type of information. DOL, under your leadership, failed to answer these questions.

Therefore, I write to you again and request that you provide an adequate response to my July letter. In addition, please produce the following documents, by November 6, 2023.

1. From January 2019 to October 2023, electronic copies of letters OLMS sent to companies requesting them to file LM-10 reports on the activity of company officers, including, but not limited to, human resources, employee relations, or labor relations vice presidents or directors.

2. From January 2019 to October 2023, electronic copies of all subpoenas served on companies requiring them to file LM-10 reports on the activity of company officers, including, but not limited to, any human resources, employee relations, or labor relations vice presidents or directors.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

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