Collapse to view only § 439. Violations and penalties
- § 431. Report of labor organizations
- § 432. Report of officers and employees of labor organizations
- § 433. Report of employers
- § 434. Exemption of attorney-client communications
- § 435. Reports and documents as public information
- § 436. Retention of records
- § 437. Time for making reports
- § 438. Rules and regulations; simplified reports
- § 439. Violations and penalties
- § 440. Civil action for enforcement by Secretary; jurisdiction
- Surety company reports; contents; waiver or modification of requirements respecting contents of reports
§ 431. Report of labor organizations
(a) Adoption and filing of constitution and bylaws; contents of report
Every labor organization shall adopt a constitution and bylaws and shall file a copy thereof with the Secretary, together with a report, signed by its president and secretary or corresponding principal officers, containing the following information—
(1) the name of the labor organization, its mailing address, and any other address at which it maintains its principal office or at which it keeps the records referred to in this subchapter;
(2) the name and title of each of its officers;
(3) the initiation fee or fees required from a new or transferred member and fees for work permits required by the reporting labor organization;
(4) the regular dues or fees or other periodic payments required to remain a member of the reporting labor organization; and
(5) detailed statements, or references to specific provisions of documents filed under this subsection which contain such statements, showing the provision made and procedures followed with respect to each of the following: (A) qualifications for or restrictions on membership, (B) levying of assessments, (C) participation in insurance or other benefit plans, (D) authorization for disbursement of funds of the labor organization, (E) audit of financial transactions of the labor organization, (F) the calling of regular and special meetings, (G) the selection of officers and stewards and of any representatives to other bodies composed of labor organizations’ representatives, with a specific statement of the manner in which each officer was elected, appointed, or otherwise selected, (H) discipline or removal of officers or agents for breaches of their trust, (I) imposition of fines, suspensions, and expulsions of members, including the grounds for such action and any provision made for notice, hearing, judgment on the evidence, and appeal procedures, (J) authorization for bargaining demands, (K) ratification of contract terms, (L) authorization for strikes, and (M) issuance of work permits. Any change in the information required by this subsection shall be reported to the Secretary at the time the reporting labor organization files with the Secretary the annual financial report required by subsection (b).
(b) Annual financial report; filing; contents
Every labor organization shall file annually with the Secretary a financial report signed by its president and treasurer or corresponding principal officers containing the following information in such detail as may be necessary accurately to disclose its financial condition and operations for its preceding fiscal year—
(1) assets and liabilities at the beginning and end of the fiscal year;
(2) receipts of any kind and the sources thereof;
(3) salary, allowances, and other direct or indirect disbursements (including reimbursed expenses) to each officer and also to each employee who, during such fiscal year, received more than $10,000 in the aggregate from such labor organization and any other labor organization affiliated with it or with which it is affiliated, or which is affiliated with the same national or international labor organization;
(4) direct and indirect loans made to any officer, employee, or member, which aggregated more than $250 during the fiscal year, together with a statement of the purpose, security, if any, and arrangements for repayment;
(5) direct and indirect loans to any business enterprise, together with a statement of the purpose, security, if any, and arrangements for repayment; and
(6) other disbursements made by it including the purposes thereof;
all in such categories as the Secretary may prescribe.
(c) Availability of information to members; examination of books, records, and accounts
(Pub. L. 86–257, title II, § 201(a)–(c), Sept. 14, 1959, 73 Stat. 524, 525.)
§ 432. Report of officers and employees of labor organizations
(a) Filing; contents of report
(1) any stock, bond, security, or other interest, legal or equitable, which he or his spouse or minor child directly or indirectly held in, and any income or any other benefit with monetary value (including reimbursed expenses) which he or his spouse or minor child derived directly or indirectly from, an employer whose employees such labor organization represents or is actively seeking to represent, except payments and other benefits received as a bona fide employee of such employer;
(2) any transaction in which he or his spouse or minor child engaged, directly or indirectly, involving any stock, bond, security, or loan to or from, or other legal or equitable interest in the business of an employer whose employees such labor organization represents or is actively seeking to represent;
(3) any stock, bond, security, or other interest, legal or equitable, which he or his spouse or minor child directly or indirectly held in, and any income or any other benefit with monetary value (including reimbursed expenses) which he or his spouse or minor child directly or indirectly derived from, any business a substantial part of which consists of buying from, selling or leasing to, or otherwise dealing with, the business of an employer whose employees such labor organization represents or is actively seeking to represent;
(4) any stock, bond, security, or other interest, legal or equitable, which he or his spouse or minor child directly or indirectly held in, and any income or any other benefit with monetary value (including reimbursed expenses) which he or his spouse or minor child directly or indirectly derived from, a business any part of which consists of buying from, or selling or leasing directly or indirectly to, or otherwise dealing with such labor organization;
(5) any direct or indirect business transaction or arrangement between him or his spouse or minor child and any employer whose employees his organization represents or is actively seeking to represent, except work performed and payments and benefits received as a bona fide employee of such employer and except purchases and sales of goods or services in the regular course of business at prices generally available to any employee of such employer; and
(6) any payment of money or other thing of value (including reimbursed expenses) which he or his spouse or minor child received directly or indirectly from any employer or any person who acts as a labor relations consultant to an employer, except payments of the kinds referred to in section 186(c) of this title.
(b) Report of certain bona fide investments
(c) Exemption from filing requirement
(Pub. L. 86–257, title II, § 202, Sept. 14, 1959, 73 Stat. 525.)
§ 433. Report of employers
(a) Filing and contents of report of payments, loans, promises, agreements, or arrangements
Every employer who in any fiscal year made—
(1) any payment or loan, direct or indirect, of money or other thing of value (including reimbursed expenses), or any promise or agreement therefor, to any labor organization or officer, agent, shop steward, or other representative of a labor organization, or employee of any labor organization, except (A) payments or loans made by any national or State bank, credit union, insurance company, savings and loan association or other credit institution and (B) payments of the kind referred to in section 186(c) of this title;
(2) any payment (including reimbursed expenses) to any of his employees, or any group or committee of such employees, for the purpose of causing such employee or group or committee of employees to persuade other employees to exercise or not to exercise, or as the manner of exercising, the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing unless such payments were contemporaneously or previously disclosed to such other employees;
(3) any expenditure, during the fiscal year, where an object thereof, directly or indirectly, is to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, or is to obtain information concerning the activities of employees or a labor organization in connection with a labor dispute involving such employer, except for use solely in conjunction with an administrative or arbitral proceeding or a criminal or civil judicial proceeding;
(4) any agreement or arrangement with a labor relations consultant or other independent contractor or organization pursuant to which such person undertakes activities where an object thereof, directly or indirectly, is to persuade employees to exercise or not to exercise, or persuade employees as to the manner of exercising, the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, or undertakes to supply such employer with information concerning the activities of employees or a labor organization in connection with a labor dispute involving such employer, except information for use solely in conjunction with an administrative or arbitral proceeding or a criminal or civil judicial proceeding; or
(5) any payment (including reimbursed expenses) pursuant to an agreement or arrangement described in subdivision (4);
shall file with the Secretary a report, in a form prescribed by him, signed by its president and treasurer or corresponding principal officers showing in detail the date and amount of each such payment, loan, promise, agreement, or arrangement and the name, address, and position, if any, in any firm or labor organization of the person to whom it was made and a full explanation of the circumstances of all such payments, including the terms of any agreement or understanding pursuant to which they were made.
(b) Persuasive activities relating to the right to organize and bargain collectively; supplying information of activities in connection with labor disputes; filing and contents of report of agreement or arrangement
Every person who pursuant to any agreement or arrangement with an employer undertakes activities where an object thereof is, directly or indirectly—
(1) to persuade employees to exercise or not to exercise, or persuade employees as to the manner of exercising, the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing; or
(2) to supply an employer with information concerning the activities of employees or a labor organization in connection with a labor dispute involving such employer, except information for use solely in conjunction with an administrative or arbitral proceeding or a criminal or civil judicial proceeding;
shall file within thirty days after entering into such agreement or arrangement a report with the Secretary, signed by its president and treasurer or corresponding principal officers, containing the name under which such person is engaged in doing business and the address of its principal office, and a detailed statement of the terms and conditions of such agreement or arrangement. Every such person shall file annually, with respect to each fiscal year during which payments were made as a result of such an agreement or arrangement, a report with the Secretary, signed by its president and treasurer or corresponding principal officers, containing a statement (A) of its receipts of any kind from employers on account of labor relations advice or services, designating the sources thereof, and (B) of its disbursements of any kind, in connection with such services and the purposes thereof. In each such case such information shall be set forth in such categories as the Secretary may prescribe.
(c) Advisory or representative services exempt from filing requirements
(d) Exemption from filing requirements generally
(e) Services by and payments to regular officers, supervisors, and employees of employer
(f) Rights protected by section 158(c) of this title
(g) “Interfere with, restrain, or coerce” defined
(Pub. L. 86–257, title II, § 203, Sept. 14, 1959, 73 Stat. 526.)
§ 434. Exemption of attorney-client communications
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to require an attorney who is a member in good standing of the bar of any State, to include in any report required to be filed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter any information which was lawfully communicated to such attorney by any of his clients in the course of a legitimate attorney-client relationship.
(Pub. L. 86–257, title II, § 204, Sept. 14, 1959, 73 Stat. 528.)
§ 435. Reports and documents as public information
(a) Publication; statistical and research purposes
(b) Inspection and examination of information and data
(c) Copies of reports or documents; availability to State agencies
(Pub. L. 86–257, title II, § 205, Sept. 14, 1959, 73 Stat. 528; Pub. L. 89–216, § 2(a)–(c), Sept. 29, 1965, 79 Stat. 888.)
§ 436. Retention of records
Every person required to file any report under this subchapter shall maintain records on the matters required to be reported which will provide in sufficient detail the necessary basic information and data from which the documents filed with the Secretary may be verified, explained, or clarified, and checked for accuracy and completeness, and shall include vouchers, worksheets, receipts, and applicable resolutions, and shall keep such records available for examination for a period of not less than five years after the filing of the documents based on the information which they contain.
(Pub. L. 86–257, title II, § 206, Sept. 14, 1959, 73 Stat. 529.)
§ 437. Time for making reports
(a) Each labor organization shall file the initial report required under section 431(a) of this title within ninety days after the date on which it first becomes subject to this chapter.
(b) Each person required to file a report under section 431(b), 432, 433(a), the second sentence of 433(b), or section 441 of this title shall file such report within ninety days after the end of each of its fiscal years; except that where such person is subject to section 431(b), 432, 433(a), the second sentence of 433(b), or section 441 of this title, as the case may be, for only a portion of such a fiscal year (because September 14, 1959, occurs during such person’s fiscal year) such person becomes subject to this chapter during its fiscal year or such person may consider that portion as the entire fiscal year in making such report.
(Pub. L. 86–257, title II, § 207, Sept. 14, 1959, 73 Stat. 529; Pub. L. 89–216, § 2(d), Sept. 29, 1965, 79 Stat. 888.)
§ 438. Rules and regulations; simplified reports
The Secretary shall have authority to issue, amend, and rescind rules and regulations prescribing the form and publication of reports required to be filed under this subchapter and such other reasonable rules and regulations (including rules prescribing reports concerning trusts in which a labor organization is interested) as he may find necessary to prevent the circumvention or evasion of such reporting requirements. In exercising his power under this section the Secretary shall prescribe by general rule simplified reports for labor organizations or employers for whom he finds that by virtue of their size a detailed report would be unduly burdensome, but the Secretary may revoke such provision for simplified forms of any labor organization or employer if he determines, after such investigation as he deems proper and due notice and opportunity for a hearing, that the purposes of this section would be served thereby.
(Pub. L. 86–257, title II, § 208, Sept. 14, 1959, 73 Stat. 529.)
§ 439. Violations and penalties
(a) Willful violations of provisions of subchapter
(b) False statements or representations of fact with knowledge of falsehood
(c) False entry in or willful concealment, etc., of books and records
(d) Personal responsibility of individuals required to sign reports
(Pub. L. 86–257, title II, § 209, Sept. 14, 1959, 73 Stat. 529.)
§ 440. Civil action for enforcement by Secretary; jurisdiction
Whenever it shall appear that any person has violated or is about to violate any of the provisions of this subchapter, the Secretary may bring a civil action for such relief (including injunctions) as may be appropriate. Any such action may be brought in the district court of the United States where the violation occurred or, at the option of the parties, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
(Pub. L. 86–257, title II, § 210, Sept. 14, 1959, 73 Stat. 530.)
Surety company reports; contents; waiver or modification of requirements respecting contents of reports
Each surety company which issues any bond required by this chapter or the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 [29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.] shall file annually with the Secretary, with respect to each fiscal year during which any such bond was in force, a report, in such form and detail as he may prescribe by regulation, filed by the president and treasurer or corresponding principal officers of the surety company, describing its bond experience under each such chapter or Act, including information as to the premiums received, total claims paid, amounts recovered by way of subrogation, administrative and legal expenses and such related data and information as the Secretary shall determine to be necessary in the public interest and to carry out the policy of the chapter. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Secretary finds that any such specific information cannot be practicably ascertained or would be uninformative, the Secretary may modify or waive the requirement for such information.
(Pub. L. 86–257, title II, § 211, as added Pub. L. 89–216, § 3, Sept. 29, 1965, 79 Stat. 888; amended Pub. L. 93–406, title I, § 112(a)(2)(D), formerly § 111(a)(2)(D), Sept. 2, 1974, 88 Stat. 852, renumbered § 112(a)(2)(D), Pub. L. 117–328, div. T, title III, § 320(a)(1), Dec. 29, 2022, 136 Stat. 5354.)