U.S. Department of Labor Announces Office of Labor-Management Standards Investigations and Indictments Rose in Fiscal Year 2019

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.

There were 84 total indictments following OLMS investigations, an increase of 15%. OLMS conducted 7% more criminal investigations. The timeframe taken to resolve union officer election complaints decreased by three days from the previous year.

“The Office of Labor Standards Management is committed to protecting the rights of America’s union members,” said Office of Labor Management Standards Director Arthur Rosenfeld. “Union members are an important part of the American workforce, and the OLMS will continue to ensure unions operate with integrity and transparency.”

OLMS has also achieved success this fiscal year in protecting union democracy:

• On Oct. 25, 2018, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 4 – in New Britain, Connecticut – concerning its April and May 2018 election of council officers. The OLMS investigation concluded that the union failed to provide adequate safeguards to ensure a fair election when it applied an unlawful restriction that denied qualified nominees their right to run for office and also denied delegates the opportunity to vote between qualified nominees for the same office.
• On April 18, 2019, the department filed suit against the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) after an investigation found that ILWU denied members a reasonable opportunity to vote in their union election.
• OLMS continues to work with the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, the FBI and the IRS on a corruption investigation involving Fiat Chrysler executives bribing labor officials to influence labor negotiations with the United Auto Workers.

OLMS administers and enforces provisions of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA). The LMRDA promotes union democracy and financial integrity in private sector labor unions, and transparency for labor unions and their officials, employers and others. OLMS also administers provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 and the Foreign Service Act of 1980, which extend comparable protections to federal sector labor unions.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.