Winston & Strawn LLP: Labor News April 2009

In This Issue

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched a $1 million campaign in opposition to the union-backed Employee Free Choice Act. The proposed legislation aims to amend the National Labor Relations Act by doing away with secret-ballot union elections and replacing them with a card-check procedure that would make it easier to organize employees. The bill also would provide that, in the event of a standoff in first-contract negotiations, the company and union would be required to submit their contract dispute to mandatory interest arbitration. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims the legislation would allow the federal government to set wages and working conditions, eliminate employees' rights to secret-ballot union elections, and set "one-sided penalties" on employers. Labor unions, on the other hand, are earnestly supporting the legislation by claiming that their opponents are the same "greedy executives" who brought about the current economic crisis. Currently, proponents of the bill are dwindling, thus threatening the 60-vote majority it needs to pass in the Senate.

Congressional support for the Employee Free Choice Act recently took a substantial hit as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) openly withdrew her support for the bill in its current form. Citing the troubled economy, Feinstein, who co-sponsored the original version in 2007, said she would seek a compromise measure that would be less divisive. The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives supports the proposed legislation, but the loss of the senator's vote jeopardizes its chances in the U.S. Senate. Feinstein's retreat follows closely behind Sen. Arlen Specter's (former R-Pa, now D-Pa) public criticism of the bill. In addition to Feinstein and Specter, the bill's supporters face a growing list of Democratic senators considered not fully supportive of the bill as written. The list includes Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), and more recently Sens. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and Thomas Carper (D-Del.). At an April 6 meeting in Arkansas, Sen. Lincoln clarified her position on the Employee Free Choice Act, stating that she cannot support the bill in its current form but would consider compromise legislation. Republican lawmakers and business groups strongly oppose the legislation, calling the bill a job-killing assault on the democratic right to a secret ballot election. Despite these setbacks, the bill's supporters remain confident and maintain that there has been no major shift in support. The AFL-CIO, American Rights at Work, and Change to Win recently launched an ad and grassroots campaign called "Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act" to rally support for the bill's passage. In addition, national civil rights leaders held a media conference call on April 2, urging EFCA passage as a means to increase the income of African American workers.

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Beverage department employees of Foxwoods Resort Casino located on an Indian reservation in Mashantucket, Conn. voted against representation by the United Food and Commercial Workers. The election was conducted under tribal law. The UFCW has vowed to continue efforts to represent the 400 bartenders, bar porters, and beverage servers.

Workers at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston voted overwhelmingly for representation by the Service Employees International Union. The organizing victory was the first breakthrough for the Boston-area Local 1199 SEIU-East since it announced an ambitious plan in September 2007 to win representation for some 60,000 workers at area teaching hospitals.

Labor leaders, including National Labor Coordinating Committee members, continued talks to negotiate a single organization to unify labor unions on April 6-7 at the National Labor College outside Washington, D.C. The committee consists of AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Change to Win Chair Anna Burger, and NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, along with the presidents of six AFL-CIO affiliates and five Change to Win affiliates. The three groups represent more than 16 million workers in more than 60 unions. Former Rep. David Bonior (D-Mich.) said that "significant progress" was made on key issues but that issues relating to governance and financials remain outstanding.

Six state nurses associations (Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington) disaffiliated from the United American Nurses to form a new federation – the National Federation of Nurses (NFN) – that represents 70,000 RNs. The six state nurses associations still remain members of the American Nurses Association, the former parent organization of the UAN that has been criticized as having policies contrary to the interests of staff nurses. This association is the second national nursing group that has been created in recent months as the California Nurses Association and the Massachusetts Nurses Association (which together represent about 150,000 RNs) announced that they are forming a new union to be called the United American Nurses-National Nurses Organizing Committee.

Employees of Smithfield Packing Co.'s meatpacking facility in Wilson, N.C., have voted against representation by the United Food and Commercial Workers for the second time since 1999. A union representative said that employees were pressured by the company to reject representation. UFCW and Smithfield Packing have had troubles in the past. UFCW filed suit against Smithfield Packing in 1999 for allegedly engaging in an anti-union campaign. In 2006, the NLRB found that Smithfield did engage in unfair labor practices, but declined to issue a Gissel bargaining order, instead opting for another election because of the long delay in deciding the case. The union claims this election highlights the need for the Employee Free Choice Act pending before Congress.

10,000 in-home health care workers in Fresno County, Calif. will vote on whether they wish to continue to be represented by United Healthcare Workers-West, a local of the Service Employees International Union, or switch to the newly created National Union of Healthcare Workers. NUHW filed a petition on March 2 asking the county to hold an election among the 10,000 in-home health care workers that could allow them to end ties with the SEIU and join the NUHW. On the same day the validity of signatures on a petition filed by the NUHW was confirmed, a fact-finder selected from a panel provided by the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service decided that Fresno County's proposed wage and hour reductions of $1.10 per hour for these same employees were too deep, over too short a period.. The wage deductions were delayed pending this decision.

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The president of UNITE HERE's hospitality division, John Wilhelm, filed a formal complaint under the constitution of labor federation Change to Win against the Service Employees International Union. The complaint charges that SEIU has launched an across-the-board assault on UNITE HERE's jurisdiction by encouraging factions within UNITE HERE to secede from the union. Through the charge, Wilhelm requests redress under article XV, Section 1, of the federation constitution, which stipulates that "Each affiliate shall respect the established collective bargaining relationship of every other affiliate. No affiliate shall organize or attempt to represent employees as to whom an established collective bargaining relationship exists with any other affiliate." The dispute stems, at least in part, from a March 21, 2009 chain of events whereby a faction of UNITE HERE members formed a new union—Workers United—and one day later voted to affiliate with SEIU.

The National Labor Relations Board Professional Association, which represents approximately 130 National Labor Relations Board attorneys, filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Federal Labor Relations Authority based on NLRB's refusal to bargain with a recently certified bargaining unit that consolidated two previously separate units. The central dispute concerns whether the board-side and the general counsel-side employees can be consolidated into one group. Opponents claim that the two groups cannot be combined because Section 3(d) of the National Labor Relations Act gives the two respective groups separate and independent responsibilities. By refusing to bargain with the newly certified union, the NLRB can eventually seek appellate review of the FLRA's decision to consolidate the two previously separate units.

A subsidiary of Verizon Corporation, Verizon New England Inc., has sued a chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in a federal district court in Rhode Island. VNE says that Local 2323 has breached the collective bargaining agreement by fining and suing union members who take temporary management assignments and has thus impermissibly caused interference with business operations. Local 2323 allegedly banned members from taking temporary management assignments as a part of its protests against the company's decision to spin off parts of its business in March 2008. VNE has said it has litigated similar suits against the union in the past and prevailed. VNE seeks a declaration that the union's actions are wrongful, in addition to a permanent injunction and money damages.

The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have tentatively reached agreement on a three-year commercials contract with advertisers to run through March 31, 2012. The tentative agreement would increase wage rates for all categories of performers by more than $36 million in the first year and would ultimately result in a 5.1 percent wage increase over its term. The agreement also calls for approximately $21 million in increased health and retirement benefits. In addition to wage and benefit contribution increases, the agreement would set the first-ever payment structure for work made for the Internet or other new media. The talent unions, SAG and AFTRA, represent some 135,000 workers.

Members of the Communications Workers of America have ratified a four-year contract with AT&T Mobility. The agreement provides an 8.5 percent wage increase over the four-year term for some 20,000 workers and adds flexibility for the employer. Members of the union will receive a $500 lump sum ratification bonus and a 1 percent hourly wage increase in 2009, followed by 2.5 percent increases in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Seniority rights have been applied to the full contract. When shifting positions from full-time to part-time, AT&T now will ask first for volunteers before imposing the change in reverse seniority order. Employees covered under the contract primarily work in customer service, network organizations, and sales.

The Radisson Los Angeles Airport Hotel signed a contract with UNITE HERE Local 11 increasing wages by $2.60 per hour for non-tipped employees (e.g., room attendants, housekeepers, cashiers, laundry workers, and cafeteria and parking attendants) and providing free family health coverage for all employees who work more than 25 hours per week. Tipped employees, who make up about one-third of the hotel workforce, will also receive increased benefits under the new contract. The contract covers about 160 employees and runs from March 20 to August 31, 2012.

Some 4,600 union workers at Yale University, represented by Locals 34 and 35 of UNITE HERE, ratified a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with the university. In the past, negotiations between the unions and Yale have been contentious, but this agreement marks a significant advancement between Yale and the unions. The new agreement is remarkable in that it came a full nine months before the expiration of the current contract. The contract provides for increases in salary and health care benefits, union growth, and addresses workplace productivity.

Both Wal-Mart Canada Inc. and the United Food and Commercial Workers are claiming victories as a result of an arbitrator's recent decision establishing a first collective bargaining agreement for about 180 Wal-Mart employees in Quebec. Wal-Mart claims victory because, according to company spokesman Andrew Pelletier, the arbitrator decided not to raise wages or benefits for Wal-Mart employees on the grounds that they receive wages and benefits that are sometimes better than competitors. Meanwhile, the UFCW is claiming victory because, according to UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley, the arbitration gave members of UFCW Local 501 seniority rights, a wage ladder free of favoritism, a legally binding grievance process, and other benefits. The arbitrator's decision ends a dispute dating back to January 2005, when the union first won certification to represent the employees.

Average first-year wage increases reported to BNA in the first quarter of this year declined from increases reported at the same time in 2008 in all sectors except manufacturing, which showed a small rise. This analysis was based on a database of 199 agreements covering more than 120,000 workers reported in BNA's collective bargaining negotiations and contracts service during the first quarter of 2009.

Collective bargaining data compiled by BNA through April 20 for all settlements showed that the average first-year wage increase was 2.9 percent, compared with 3.5 percent reported in the comparable period of 2008. The median first-year increase for contracts reported to date in 2009 was 3 percent, the same increase as that reported in 2008; the weighted average was 5.2, compared with 3.4 percent in the same period in 2008.

Major collective bargaining agreements in Canada during February produced an average base rate wage increase of 2.9 percent. This figure is up from 2.1 percent in February, but down from 3.1 and 3.3 percent in December and November respectively, and down from the 3.3 percent average for 2008 as a whole. The February increase was driven by eight government of Newfoundland and Labrador public sector agreements that provided 14,890 employees with an average annual wage increase of 5 percent.

Members of the United Steelworkers ratified a five-year umbrella master agreement with Packaging Corporation of America that provides successor language and a code of conduct for organizing drives. In addition, the contract provides wage increases above the industry standard and increases in the defined pension plan multiplier. The agreement covers some 1,500 workers at 25 facilities that manufacture boxes throughout the United States.

Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1347 ratified a five-year labor contract with Duke Energy Corp. that provides wage increases of 12 percent over a five-year term, raises employees' contribution to health care premiums, and shifts newer workers from a traditional pension plan to a cash balance plan. The contract covers approximately 1,100 workers in Ohio and Kentucky.

On April 5, Members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 400 ratified a four-year labor contract with Western Energy Company. Union members returned to work at a Montana coal mine two days later, ending a work stoppage that began March 20. The new contract provides a $250 signing bonus, increases wages by $3.85 per hour over the four-year term, and requires workers to contribute to health care premiums for the first time.

The Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors narrowly voted to approve and recommend ratification of a new agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to replace a three-year deal that expired in June 2008. The board voted 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent to send the tentative agreement to its members to vote for ratification. If approved, the contract would take effect upon ratification and run through June 30, 2011. The SAG contract is the last agreement outstanding between the major talent unions and AMPTP.

Members of the International Association of Machinists District Lodge 776 have ratified a three-year contract with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. that provides some 3,500 workers with the "best combined wage and benefit package" ever negotiated with the company, the union said. Under the contract, which will run from April 20, 2009 through April 22, 2012, employees will receive a general wage increase of 4 percent in the first year, and 3 percent increases in each of the second and third years. The union said the new contract includes the largest pension increase in the history of the union's representation.

Chrysler has reached a concessionary agreement with the United Auto Workers as a result of White House-sponsored negotiations among the union, Chrysler's executives and creditors, and the Treasury Department. The Obama administration rejected Chrysler's viability plan in February after finding that the company would not be able to support itself and gave it until April 30 to work with unions to make additional cost-cutting measures and partner with Fiat. Under the terms of the agreement, the union would receive company stock in exchange for 50 percent of what Chrysler owes its retiree health care fund. The UAW would eventually own 55 percent of Chrysler's stock, Fiat would own 35 percent, and the U.S. government and Chrysler's secured lenders would own 10 percent. The federal government, which has been supervising the restructuring of Chrysler, said that it approves of the cost-cutting measures. Chrysler stands to gain approximately $8 billion more in loans from the federal government as a result of this and other measures. Canadian Auto Workers have also ratified a restructuring of the union's collective bargaining agreement with Chrysler to save significant labor costs and help ensure the company's survival. The new agreement maintains base wages and pensions but cuts costs in health care and other benefits.

Members of the Association of Flight Attendants at Hawaiian Airlines ratified a tentative agreement on a two-year contract. The new contract calls for a 2 percent pay increase retroactive to Feb. 25 followed by an additional 2 percent increase in 2010. The agreement also allows employees to participate in the airline's profit-sharing programs and makes minor changes to rest time, compensation for airport reserves duty, and training. The new contract also provides for increased operational efficiency.

The Airline Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced that it has removed Teamsters Local 747 as the bargaining agent for pilots employed by Cape Air, Inc. due to claimed "substandard representation." According to the IBT, decertification drives are underway at other Local 747 carriers. Local 747 maintains that it is not currently and never has been the bargaining representative for the Cape Air, Inc. pilots. Local 747 represents approximately 5,000 pilots at 12 airlines.

Pilots at Great Lakes Aviation, a Wyoming-based carrier, have voted to replace the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 747, with the United Transportation Union as their bargaining representative.

Members of the National Pilots Association, which represents nearly 1,700 pilots at AirTran Airways, recently voted to merge with the Air Line Pilots Association. The Executive Board for ALPA approved the merger, which took effect May 1. ALPA represents nearly 54,000 pilots at 36 airlines in the United States and Canada as a result of this merger.

Aircraft mechanics and technicians at Horizon Air switched from the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. This move reduces AMFA's representation to less than 4,000 aircraft mechanics nationwide.

Collective bargaining agreements that require union members to arbitrate Age Discrimination in Employment Act claims are enforceable, according to a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court (14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett). In a prior decision, Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lange Corp., the high court held that ADEA claims are arbitrable, basing its decision on the complete absence of any legislative history or text that would preclude arbitration of ADEA claims. On April 1, 2009, in a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Clarence Thomas, the court clarified that its Gilmer holding applies equally in the collective bargaining context. Employment lawyers speculate that 14 Penn Plaza could lead to a significant decrease in the number of discrimination lawsuits filed in the U.S.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reinstated the claim of an electrical contractor who sued a union local in federal court under the Illinois Antitrust Act (Smart v. Local 702, Int'l Brotherhood of Elec. Workers). The plaintiff in Smart sued the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 702, for allegedly threatening the owner of a sports complex to fire the plaintiff in favor of union workers. Smart sued in federal court under the Illinois Antitrust Act. The union claimed that the complaint should be dismissed as preempted by the National Labor Relations Act. The Seventh Circuit held, contrary to the union's contention, that Smart could bring the state claim in federal court because through § 187(b), Congress intended to "exercise [the] extraordinary pre-emptive power. . . that converts an ordinary state common law complaint into one stating a federal claim."

A federal judge ordered former officers of United Healthcare Workers West to return all information and property that they took when Service Employees International Union put the local into trusteeship and removed them as officers. Judge Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said that individuals formerly associated with UHW took and hid numerous documents including grievance files and collective bargaining files. In addition, the defendants established a shadow e-mail system using personally owned PDAs. Judge Alsup said that all information belonging to UHW is the property of UHW, not the individual employees', despite the fact that much of the information is contained on personal electronic devices.

A federal judge in Michigan ordered Heartland-University of Livonia, Mich., a nursing home, to restore recognition to SEIU Healthcare Michigan, resume bargaining for a successor contract, and rescind unilateral wage increases. The judge found reasonable cause to believe that Heartland's withdrawal of recognition from SEIU Healthcare Michigan based on a disaffection petition signed by a bare majority of the unit employees was tainted by the employer's excessive involvement in soliciting employees to sign the petition.

The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board dismissed the recently created National Union of Healthcare Workers petition filed in late February seeking a representation election for some 50,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities throughout California. Alan Reichard, the NLRB regional director, said that a memorandum of agreement reached Sept. 12, 2008 during a re-opener at the end of the third year of a five-year agreement between Kaiser and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which included SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West, precluded the processing of NUHW petitions. Reichard found that: "The language in the memorandum ‘expressly reaffirms the long-term agreement and indicates a clear intent on the part of the contracting parties to be bound for a specific period' – i.e., Oct. 1, 2008 through Sept. 20, 2010."

A federal district court judge granted the National Labor Relation Board's request for an injunction ordering Fremont-Rideout Health Group to recognize the California Nurses Association as the representative of some 450 nurses at two hospitals and return to the bargaining table (Norelli v. Fremont-Rideout Health Group). After the hospitals withdrew recognition, CNA immediately filed a complaint with the NLRB, arguing that it had evidence that 18 cards initially signed by nurses in support of withdrawal and decertification were now being revoked. The federal trial court said that this "staleness" argument was a novel legal theory worth entertaining; thus it determined an injunction was necessary to protect employee interests in the interim.

The Seventh Circuit recently held that the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act creates an implied right of action that a allows a union to sue a former labor organization (Int'l Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 v. Ward). The Ninth and Eleventh circuits have been split on the issue, as the former has held that the LMRDA creates only a right for union members to sue a former labor organization while the latter has held that the LMRDA creates a cause of action for both unions and union members. Siding with the Eleventh Circuit, the Seventh Circuit held that "the text and remedial structure of [the LMRDA] . . . imply both federal rights and a federal remedy for labor organizations against union officers who violate their statutory duties."

The Tenth Circuit held that Utah is under no obligation to aid unions' exercise of their First Amendment rights using government payroll systems and therefore upheld Utah's law that prohibits any state or local public employer from withholding voluntary political contributions from its employees' paychecks (Utah Educ. Ass'n v. Shurtleff). This decision was largely controlled by the Supreme Court's decision in Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Ass'n, in which the court held that the First Amendment prohibits government abridgment of speech but "does not confer an affirmative right to use government payroll mechanisms for the purpose of obtaining funds for expression." The Supreme Court further noted that such an interpretation of the First Amendment is proper because it helps avoid the appearance that the public's business carried out by the state is tainted by politics.

The District of Columbia Circuit Court ruled that the Tribune, a Missouri-based newspaper, could not unilaterally decide to reverse its decision to allow union dues to be deducted from employee pay without bargaining with the union (Tribune Publishing Co. v. NLRB). A collective bargaining agreement between the Tribune and the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters expired in November of 2001. The Tribune orally agreed with the union to allow union dues to be deducted from employee paychecks and put into a direct deposit account, but later unilaterally reversed its decision. The court said that it was undisputed that dues deductions are a term or condition of employment. Thus, the Tribune had a duty to bargain with the union over the condition and could not unilaterally decide to stop the deductions.

The Ninth Circuit held that the NLRB acted properly when it found that Lucent Technologies had no obligation to bargain with Local 21, an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local, when it decided to move a group of telephone workers previously employed at another firm into a larger Lucent unit after a merger (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 21 v. NLRB). Because the act was a "core business decision," the court held that Lucent was exempt from the bargaining requirement of the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRB found that while Lucent had no duty to bargain with the IBEW about the merger itself, it did have a duty to bargain concerning the effects of the merger. Nonetheless, the NLRB declined to issue a traditional remedial order for the violation, which the union later challenged. Notwithstanding Lucent's failure to bargain over the effects of the merger, the court said it was within the NLRB's discretion to refuse to enter a traditional remedial order for the violation.

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President Obama has nominated two longtime labor lawyers, Craig Becker and Mark Pearce, to serve on the National Labor Relations Board. Since December 2007, the NLRB has been operating with only two members who have generally refrained from deciding any controversial cases. There has been talk of the NLRB engaging in rule-making under President Obama's leadership, although in the past it has been extremely reluctant to do so. Proponents of rule-making say it would be more universally applicable than setting policy through case law, but any rules would also likely be challenged in federal court.

A California bill (S.B. 789) that would allow farm workers to organize passed the California Senate on April 23. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed similar bills in each of the past two years. As currently drafted, the bill would allow farm workers to form a union by submitting a petition to the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) along with representation cards signed by a majority of workers in a potential bargaining unit. The bill passed the Senate on a party-line vote of 23-14, with Democrats in favor and Republicans voting against it. The bill will be considered next by the California Assembly.

Two members of a dissident reform group, Members for Change, were recently elected to two of the four top officer positions at a New York City Amalgamated Transit Union local historically tainted by ties to organized crime. The ATU placed Local 1181 under the internal trusteeship of two international vice presidents in November 2006 after existing officers stepped down following their arrest. The election represents the first time in more than 30 years that anyone not tainted by connections to the mob-controlled leadership has won a post at Local 1181.

Rosa Della Porta, the former bookkeeper of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 26, was found guilty of embezzling union funds by a jury in Los Angeles, on April 1, 2009. Evidence showed that Porta stole more than $100,000 from Local 26 over a period of less than three years. Local 26 discovered Porta's embezzlement and reported it to federal investigators. Porta faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years in federal prison and is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 3, 2009. Local 26 represents approximately 1,000 members in the Los Angeles area.

A local of the SEIU, the United Long-Term Care Workers Local 6434, filed a lawsuit in California state court seeking restitution of more than $1.1 million from the union's former president, Tyrone Freeman. The lawsuit was filed after the SEIU found that Freeman had engaged in financial malpractice while serving as president for Local 6434. The complaint includes seven separate charges of financial impropriety, including allegations that he paid hundreds of thousands of union dollars to firms operated by relatives and used union funds for personal expenses such as his honeymoon, a trip to the pro bowl and a private cigar club membership. The SEIU joined forces with the California Attorney General's Office for purposes of the investigation of Local 6434 and subsequent charges against Freeman.

A New York City electrical contractor, Santo Petrocelli Sr., has been charged with making payoffs to an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 official. Petrocelli was charged with one count of conspiracy to make unlawful payments to a labor representative and one count of making unlawful payments and providing unlawful benefits to a representative of his employees. The indictment does not identify the IBEW Local 3 official, but the facts in the indictment match charges against Brian M. McLaughlin in 2006. McLaughlin is a former president of the New York City Central Labor Council and state assemblyman who pleaded guilty in 2008 to misappropriating $2.2 million in union and public money.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has taken over the Houston-Based Local 747 following complaints from members that officials of Local 747 have engaged in financial improprieties and have generally been non-responsive to members' concerns. In support of its decision, the IBT cites credible allegations that the former president and General Counsel of Local 747, Gene Sowell, concealed a legal services contract with the local that generated $1.2 million in legal fees.

The United Auto Workers' membership declined by 33,873 members in 2008, leaving the UAW with 431,037 members at the close of 2008. This represents the lowest membership total since 1940 for the UAW. Membership for the union has consistently declined every year since 2004 and is expected to decline further in 2009.

John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO announced that he plans to retire when his term expires this fall. Sweeney said that he intends to support current Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka as his successor. AFL-CIO continues to support discussions with Change to Win and the National Education Association to attempt to unify the labor movement. Trumka's election could stall such discussions, some speculate, since Change to Win has typically opposed Trumka as Sweeney's successor.

The Service Employees International Union is demanding that the boards of directors at 29 companies investigate more than $5 billion in executive pay. The SEIU sent a letter to Goldman Sachs' board requesting that it recover company funds "unjustly paid" to current and former employees and executive officers from at least 2005 through the present. The SEIU further states that it reserves its right to bring a shareholder derivative suit on behalf of Goldman Sachs if the board fails to act in a reasonable amount of time.

The Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards published two items in the April 21 Federal Register, one that will delay the effective date of the new LM-2/LM-3 rule and one that announces the Department of Labor's proposal to rescind the rule entirely. The LM-2/LM-3 rule would revise the Form LM-2 to require additional disclosure of, among other information, the compensation received by large unions' officers and employees and further details about parties buying or selling union assets.

The Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards is planning to change the LM-30 financial disclosure form that must be filed annually by union officers and employees. The agency said that significant legal and policy questions have arisen from the Bush administration's 2007 regulation that substantially changed the form for the first time in more than 40 years. The 2007 rule lengthened the Form LM-30 from two to nine pages. The DOL has said that it will refrain from initiating enforcement actions against union officers and employees based solely on their failure to file the 2007 version of the form, as long as they meet their filing obligation under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act by filing either the pre-2007 version of the LM-30 or the new version.

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