Senate Opens Flood Gates for Union Crime
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Brian M Johnson
22 OCTOBER 2007
202-785-0266
Democrat-led Senate Opens Flood Gates of Union Crime & Corruption
Office of Labor Management Standards Only Budget Cut in Labor-H
Washington, D.C. — Today, the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) condemned the recent Senate vote to cut funding for the union financial monitoring agency, the Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS), by over $2 million dollars.
In an attempt to stop the corruption-friendly measure from being included in the bill, Senator Sessions (R-Ala.) had offered an amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill that would have restored the $2 million needed to bring OLMS funding back to FY 2007 levels, plus an additional $3 million taken from general administrative funding. The amendment failed 47-46 without a single Democrat vote in favor. Two Republicans voted against Sen. Session’s amendment, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).
According to AWF’s policy director Brian Johnson, “This is a sad example of how the Democrat-led Senate is afraid to stand up to corrupt union bosses. It seems that one too many U.S. Senators count on the deep pockets of Big Labor when the only agency responsible for union financial oversight is stripped of the resources to do its job.”
Between 2001 and 2006, the OLMS has experienced an over 200 percent increase in compliance audits, over 780 convictions and over $100 million in restored dues.
But this may all be coming to an end now, says AWF’s Johnson. Unions are declining in membership, money, and political clout, but at the same time, Johnson says, “they are fighting to keep their activities cloaked in darkness, away from any regulatory oversight and invisible to the law. Now they’re gotten every Democrat and a couple of Republicans to give their blessing to their shady dealings under cover of night.”
The Alliance for Worker Freedom is calling on President Bush to veto the bill containing the controversial provision, which directly strips funding from one place AWF argues it is sorely needed: protecting average, hard-working union members.
AWF Website:
www.workerfreedom.org
