Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports for Trusts in Which a Labor Organization Is Interested, Form T-1

The Department proposed to revise the forms used by labor organizations to file the annual financial reports required by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("LMRDA" or "Act"), 29 U.S.C. 431(b). Under the proposal, specified labor organizations would file annual reports about particular trusts to which they contributed money or otherwise provided financial assistance (Form T- 1). This document sets forth the Department's review of and response to comments on the proposal; this review was undertaken by the Department after the decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations v. Chao, 409 F.3d 377 (2005). Under this rule, the Department will require that a labor organization ("union") with total annual receipts of $250,000 or more file a Form T-1 for each trust provided that the trust is of the type defined by section 3(l) of the LMRDA (defining "trust in which a labor organization is interested") and a number of conditions are met: The union's financial contribution to the trust was $10,000 or more during the year; the trust had $250,000 or more in annual receipts; and the union, acting either alone or with other unions, selects a majority of the members of the trust's governing board or the union's contribution to the trust, made independently or in combination with other unions, represents greater than 50% of the trust's revenue in the one-year reporting period. The Department will provide four exceptions to the Form T-1 requirements, and unions will not, therefore, be required to file a Form T-1 for: A Political Action Committee fund, if publicly available reports on the fund are filed with federal or state agencies; a political organization for which reports are filed with the Internal Revenue Service under 26 U.S.C. 527; an employee benefit plan filing a complete and timely report under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"); and a trust or trust fund for which an independent audit has been conducted, in accordance with the standard set forth in this final rule, if the audit is made publicly available. Under this exception the labor organization must submit the first page of the Form T-1 and a copy of the audit.