The U.S. Department of Labor May 7 requested a budget of $104.5 billion for fiscal year 2010 that included increases in oversight of wage and hour and occupational safety and health laws and decreases funding for the Office of Labor-Management Standards which oversees union financial activities.
Under the FY 2010 budget, OLMS would receive only $40.5 million – a $4.4 million reduction from the 2009 budget. ABC opposed the cut that would return OLMS’ budget to 2003 levels despite an increase in both reporting requirements and staff time required to review and enforce the law. OLMS is the only office in the administration that is established to ensure the transparency of union financial activity and internal union elections.
In addition, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) would receive $564 million in the FY 2010 budget, which is a 10 percent increase over the previous year. The Wage and Hour Division would receive $228 million, an increase of $35 million from 2009. Both budget increases include money to hire a total of 360 new investigators.
The budget also requested $500 million for the development of green jobs and $50 million for green jobs training. The “American Recovery Act of 2009” would contribute $38 billion and would help fund green jobs training, among other things.
For more information on the proposed budget, contact Bob Hirsch at ABC,
hirsch@abc.org, or visit
http://www.dol.gov/budget/presentation.htm.