Today, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorney Glenn Taubman filed official comments with the Department of Labor regarding a proposal to mandate public financial reporting for union trusts.

As yesterday’s post on $25 million that was misused from five union pension funds makes clear, these trust funds can be used to funnel money to things ranging from the Democrat party to strip clubs and horse farms. Any increased disclosure would be a step (though perhaps only a small one) in the right direction.

One area that the Foundation’s comments focus on is the loophole for so-called "sensitive information":

This "sensitive information" exception to full disclosure is simply a loophole allowing union and trust fund officials to unilaterally determine what disclosure must be made public, and then hide a vast array of questionable expenditures. Financial reports of trust fund operations and expenditures can never be considered "confidential" information, because this money is owned by the employees, not the union or trust fund officials. Fiduciary agents have no right to maintain secret record or engage in secret transactions that are purposefully hidden from principals – the employees who are the actual owners of the funds.

Expect Big Labor to fight tooth and nail any proposal that would give employees better access to information about the money they are being forced to hand over to union and trust fund officials.