The AFL-CIO sued the Trump administration today over a new Department of Labor rule that violates federal law in an effort to drain union resources away from organizing and representing workers.
The rule adds excessive, burdensome financial reporting requirements on unions in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act and other laws. The policy, known as “the LM-2 long form,” is designed to drown unions in paperwork and drain them of resources needed to organize, collectively bargain, and advocate for their members—especially for smaller unions who are particularly challenged to take on the additional administrative burden. Meanwhile, wealthy corporations continue to go under-scrutinized, allowed to get away with minimal reporting requirements compared to the unions who represent the workers that create their profit.
“The Trump administration is hellbent on making it harder for working people to come together in a union and take collective action, and this new policy is just the latest example,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “Whether they’re stripping one million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights or illegally springing unnecessary reporting requirements on unions, they’re using every tool in the toolbox to come after workers. But the labor movement doesn’t back down and will fight every one of these attacks. We’ll see the administration in court.”
The AFL-CIO submitted comments condemning a version of this rule when the Trump administration first proposed it in 2020. That proposal was later withdrawn in 2021. Now the administration has performed a bait-and-switch on workers and their representatives: first releasing a manageable, legally founded LM-2 rule in 2025—which the AFL-CIO supported—only to swap it out with this new version, without the required public comment period. The AFL-CIO lawsuit asks the court to immediately halt the implementation of the new rule while litigation continues.
Contact: Mia Jacobs, 202-637-5018