How to Get LM-2 Union Financial Statements
Unions covered by the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act are required to submit annual financial statements to the US Department of Labor. LM-2 reports are public documents that you can distribute. LM-2 forms are now online on the website of the US Department of Labor. Note: the forms are searchable, this means you can look for all officers earning over $100,000, for example, or for information about a particular officer or employee of the union.
Here’s how to find the LM-2 information for your union at the Department of Labor’s website:
1. Go to Department of Labor website.
2. Enter the union’s Organization Name (for The Animation Guild choose, “STAGE AND PICTURE OPERATORS AFL-CIO LOCAL UNION 839”), or the Designation Number (the local or council number, for The Animation Guild enter “839”), City (“Burbank”) and State (“CA”) in the appropriate fields at the top of the page. The search will work even if some fields are empty.
Most of the form blanks have drop down menus, so you can find the official name.
3. When you have put in the information, hit “submit.” The search engine will open a new page with the unions and reports that match your search. You do not need to fill in all the fields to search.
4. Select the file you want to see and the type of report you are looking for. If you want to see salary information for officers and employees, select “Reports Specific to LM2s, LM3s, and T-1s; Officer/Employee Report.”
5. NOTE: You may have to look at various reports to find the information you want. Also, be sure to check all the pages of a form, not just the page that comes up on your screen (look for the “Records Next” button on the upper right.) You can also download the information.
What’s on an LM-2 form?
The LM-2 Form will tell you when the next union election is, how many members the union has, the salaries of officers and staff, and other useful information, including:
“whether the union has any subsidiary organizations; whether the union has a political action committee (PAC); whether the union discovered any loss or shortage of funds; number of members; rates of dues and fees; 7 asset categories such as cash and investments; 4 liability categories such as accounts payable and mortgages payable; 16 receipt categories such as dues and interest; 18 disbursement categories such as payments to officers and repayment of loans obtained; a schedule of payments to officers; a schedule of payments to employees; a schedule of office and administrative expense; a schedule of loans payable”
The Form LM-2 has been revised, changing the reporting requirements as follows:
“Every labor organization subject to the LMRDA, CSRA, or FSA with total annual receipts of $250,000 or more must file the revised Form LM-2 for the fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2004. The term ‘total annual receipts’ means all financial receipts of the labor organization during its fiscal year, regardless of the source, including receipts of any special funds. Receipts of a trust in which the labor organization is interested should not be included in the total annual receipts of the labor organization when determining which form to file unless the trust is wholly owned, wholly controlled, and wholly financed by the labor organization.”
What’s an LM-3 form?
The LM-3, and LM-4 forms are simplified versions of the LM-2 for smaller unions.
Disclaimer: the information presented on this website is general and intended for educational purposes. It is not a substitute for practical legal advice on any specific situation.
From the website of the Association for Union Democracy
Email: info@uniondemocracy.org
104 Montgomery Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11225; USA;
718-564-1114