Washington, D.C. (December 2, 2009)<\/b> \u2013 The National Right to Work Foundation has filed new disclosure demands on the heels of its lawsuit to compel the Department of Labor (DOL) to release information related to high-ranking officials\u2019 connections to powerful union lobbying interests.\n<\/p>\n
\nA media report indicates DOL officials have deliberately ignored disclosure laws, and Right to Work attorneys are seeking internal DOL records backing up the report.\n<\/p>\n
\nNational Right to Work originally lodged a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request last April citing concerns about Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, who previously held a key leadership position at the Big Labor-front group \u201cAmerican Rights at Work,\u201d and Deborah Greenfield, who was a lawyer for the AFL-CIO involved in a lawsuit challenging DOL union disclosure regulations that she now oversees as an administration appointee.\n<\/p>\n
\nFor the last seven months, the Obama Administration has stonewalled the Foundation\u2019s FOIA request seeking disclosure of the high-ranking DOL officials\u2019 contacts with union operatives. Late last month, Right to Work attorneys filed suit in federal court to force the Obama Administration to fulfill its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act.\n<\/p>\n
\nSubsequent media coverage has revealed DOL officials apparently decided to ignore the Foundation\u2019s FOIA request, but facing the lawsuit and negative publicity is now reconsidering. Additionally, one media report cited a high-placed source stating that panicked DOL officials \u201care in a tizzy and freaking out\u201d because of the Foundation\u2019s lawsuit.\n<\/p>\n
\nToday, Foundation attorneys filed another FOIA request this time for the DOL\u2019s search plan and interoffice communications \u2013 including emails, meeting minutes, notes, and other interoffice correspondence \u2013 relating to the initial FOIA request.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cPresident Obama\u2019s widely-touted promise of unparalleled transparency has been met with unparalleled secrecy,\u201d said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. \u201cThe Department of Labor\u2019s deliberate stonewalling is unsettling. It suggests the administration is hiding damaging information about whether Hilda Solis and Deborah Greenfield are coordinating their activities with pro-compulsory unionism extremists.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cGiving Big Labor undue influence over the Department\u2019s rule-making and administrative oversight is a slap in the face of America\u2019s independent-minded workers. The public deserves to know about any collusion between this administration and Big Labor bosses.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington, D.C. (December 2, 2009)<\/b> \u2013 The National Right to Work Foundation has filed new disclosure demands on the heels of its lawsuit to compel the Department of Labor (DOL) to release information related to high-ranking officials\u2019 connections to powerful union lobbying interests.\n<\/p>\n
\nA media report indicates DOL officials have deliberately ignored disclosure laws, and Right to Work attorneys are seeking internal DOL records backing up the report.\n<\/p>\n
\nNational Right to Work originally lodged a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request last April citing concerns about Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, who previously held a key leadership position at the Big Labor-front group \u201cAmerican Rights at Work,\u201d and Deborah Greenfield, who was a lawyer for the AFL-CIO involved in a lawsuit challenging DOL union disclosure regulations that she now oversees as an administration appointee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[888],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n