The National Association of Manufacturers announced Wednesday that it was filing a lawsuit challenging the Labor Department’s “persuader” rule requiring business’ outside labor lawyers to disclose all their activity.
The business trade group said the rulemaking, formally issued last week, violated their members’ First Amendment rights.
The Labor Department’s new rule says that any lawyer who instructs a business on issues related to federal labor law, such as how to respond to a bid to unionize their workers, must publicly report the activity, including the financial details. That is a revision of the prior rule, which said the reporting only had to be done if the lawyers directly spoke to the workers on behalf of management.
The administration said the change was needed for transparency’s sake. Business groups have denounced it, arguing it was little more than an attempt to aid union organizing efforts by making it harder for businesses to get legal advice.
“This complicated, vague rule fails to give manufacturers fair notice on what actions are considered forbidden and what forms of communication and outreach are considered reportable. Criminal liability will now be thrust on manufacturers based on a rule that is confusing and open-ended. Rather than risk criminal penalty from a lack of reporting, employers will simply stop communicating with their employees on important issues,” said National Association of Manufacturers Senior Vice President and General Counsel Linda Kelly.
The rule change reinterprets the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, the main union anti-corruption law. Because the change is a reinterpretation of an existing law, the department can do it without receiving congressional approval.
