On Friday, John Lund, Director of the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), conducted an online chat to discuss the agency’s upcoming regulatory activities. Lund noted, for example, that by July 2011, the agency plans to issue a final rule on Form LM-30, the Labor Organization Officer and Employee Report required under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), “to identify potential conflicts of interest between the labor organization officials and their labor organizations.” A proposed rule to revise this disclosure form was published in August 2010.

By June of this year, Lund said the OLMS intends to publish a proposed rule to expand the scope of employer-consultant reporting required under Section 203 of the LMRDA. As Lund explained, under the LMRDA, an employer must report on Form LM-10 any agreement or arrangement with a third-party consultant to persuade employees regarding their collective bargaining rights, or to gather certain information about employee activities or a labor organization in connection with a labor dispute. The labor relations consultant must report on Form LM-20 information about such an agreement or arrangement. Currently, the LMRDA provides for an “advice” exemption from these reporting requirements. The proposed rule under consideration would narrow the scope of the advice exemption and expand persuader reporting.

Similarly, Lund said that the OLMS plans to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to review the Form LM-21 Receipts and Disbursements Report required of consultants concerning persuader agreements with employers. Lund clarified during the chat that such a proposal would require electronic filing of Form LM-21, and would possibly revise its layout and instructions. In addition, the OLMS also may reconsider the detail that is required to be reported on Form LM-21, although he did not discuss any specific changes.

Lund also noted that the agency intends to publish this month a Request for Information regarding the use of electronic balloting in union officer elections.

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