In early December, the Department of Labor issued a request for information regarding Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Associations (VEBAs). VEBAs are health and welfare trust funds set up by employers and union officials using "voluntary" contributions from workers.

Unfortunately, lack of oversight and an influx of money frequently encourages union corruption, so the National Right to Work Foundation submitted comments (.pdf) warning the DoL about the dangers of giving union bosses a blank check.

As the Foundation's comments point out, VEBAs should not be surpervised solely by the union hierarchy, but rather should involve employer oversight. Not only would handing over a massive trust fund to union bosses violate the Labor Management Relations Act, which prohibits employers from giving union bosses "any money or other thing of value," it also further encourages union corruption and mismanagement.

In one notable Foundation case, union bosses had the gall to finance a new luxurious union headquarters building with funds diverted from employees' VEBA. This expenditure was euphemistically termed an "investment" by the the VEBA's trustees, who were evidently more concerned with helping the union bosses than bringing workers a good return on their money.

The Foundation's experience with worker-funded VEBAs makes one thing clear: corrupt union bosses should not exercise sole control.