JAMES P. HOFFA, HUFFINGTON POST | The Labor Department just issued its final “persuader” rule language after nearly five years of consideration, which will require management consultants and attorneys involved with creating anti-union propaganda to disclose their efforts to dissuade workers from organizing and collectively bargaining. Previously, these firms could avoid reporting such work as long as they did not directly contact workers.
A new policy was needed because nearly three-quarters of companies hire outside consultants and attorneys to try and defeat organizing drives. Yet these firms-for-hire could shield their activities due to an overly broad interpretation of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA).
For years, big business has taken advantage of the nation’s broken system. They’ve paid millions to consultants and law firms to do the dirty work of misdirecting and intimidating employees. In exchange, these same companies publicly could wash their hands of the whole thing.
The rule change puts these consultants and lawyers on equal footing as employers who must disclose such activities under LMRDA. And it also levels the playing field with unions, who are required to file detailed financial disclosure forms each and every year that includes receipts and expenditures.