Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that union membership fell to its lowest level on record, 6.9% in the private sector. You can read the BLS press release here. What you probably did not hear about is the Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS) announced yesterday that it will initiate the Persuader Reporting Orientation Program (PROP) to provide “compliance assistance” to employers and labor relations consultants. Under the PROP initiative, the OLMS will compile contact information of “employers and their representatives” based on representation petitions filed with the National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) and then send an “orientation letter” about their reporting obligations. The witch hunt for labor consultants, labor attorneys and employers begins. Not to pat ourselves on the back too hard, but we predicted both of these developments last year. You might want to catch up on the rest of the predictions. It’s already shaping up to be a pretty interesting year in the world of Labor.
