This bill mandates that labor organizations must provide members with copies of collective bargaining agreements and key governing documents, along with certifying compliance to the Secretary of Labor.
Virginia Foxx
Representative
NC-5
The Union Members Right to Know Act amends existing labor law to mandate greater transparency from labor organizations to their members. This bill requires unions to provide members with copies of their collective bargaining agreements and key governing documents like the constitution and bylaws. Furthermore, it establishes specific timelines and digital requirements for these disclosures to ensure members are fully informed of their rights and agreements.
Union Transparency Bill Mandates Annual Contract Disclosures, Giving Members Direct Access to CBAs and Bylaws
If you’re a union member, you know that keeping track of your rights and what’s actually in your contract can sometimes feel like trying to read a map in the dark. This new piece of legislation, the Union Members Right to Know Act, aims to flip the switch on transparency by making sure essential documents land directly in your hands.
The Core Mandate: Contracts on Demand
This Act amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA) to strengthen what unions must share with their members. The biggest change affects your collective bargaining agreement (CBA)—that critical document detailing your wages, benefits, and working conditions. Under this new rule, any labor organization with a CBA must provide a copy of that agreement to every employee directly affected by it. They have two options: either mail or email the contract out, or post and maintain all current agreements on the union’s website. This disclosure needs to happen within 18 months of the Act becoming law, and then annually thereafter. For the worker on the shop floor or in the office, this means no more guessing games about what the contract actually says; you get the text.
Your Rights, Delivered to Your Inbox
Beyond the contract itself, the bill focuses on educating members about their rights within the union structure. Every labor organization must now provide members with three key documents: a copy of the LMRDA itself, a summary of that federal law, and the union’s constitution and bylaws. For new members joining 90 days after the Act is passed, this information must be delivered within 30 days of joining. For existing members, the union gets a year to get the information out, and then must repeat the process annually. This is a game-changer for people who want to understand how their union operates and what protections they have under federal law—no more digging through dusty filing cabinets to find the bylaws.
The Compliance Catch-Up
To ensure unions actually follow through, the bill sets up clear compliance reporting requirements with the Department of Labor (DOL). If a union has a website, it must maintain a hyperlink titled “Union Member Rights and Officer Responsibilities Under the LMRDA” on the homepage that directs to all the required documents. Crucially, union presidents and treasurers must sign and submit forms to the Secretary of Labor certifying their compliance with these website and disclosure rules. This certification process happens annually, adding a layer of accountability that puts the responsibility directly on union leadership. While this creates new administrative work for labor organizations, it provides a clear mechanism for the DOL to track whether members are actually receiving the information they are entitled to.