Olms interpretative Manual

CONTENTSOFLM-1REPORT:

CONSTITUTIONANDBYLAWS

205.101LMRDA,SECTION201(a)

Every labor organization shall adopt a constitution and bylaws and shall file a copy thereofwith the Secretary, together with a report, signed by its president and secretary or correspondingprincipalofficers,containingthe following information-- . . .

205.105INFORMATIONNEEDNOTBEINCONSTITUTIONORBYLAWS

Section 201(a) requires that a labor organization file with the Secretary of Labor a copy of itsconstitution and bylaws, together with an information report containing ". . . (3) detailedstatementsorreferencestospecificprovisionsofdocumentsfiledunderthissubsection,showingthe provision made and procedures followed with respect to each of the following: . . . (J)authorizationfor bargaining demands ... (K) ratificationofcontract terms."

It is the position of this Office that the language of the statute does not require thatprovisions and procedures in question mustbe contained in the constitution or bylaws, and ourinterpretation finds support in the option given labor organizations of filing "detailed statements"in lieu of "references to specific provisions of documents." The provisions and procedures maybe informal; the statute is only concerned that, in whatever form they exist, they be described indetailon the information report.

205.110PARENTCONSTITUTIONADOPTEDBYSUBORDINATE

Under section 402.3(b) of the Regulations, a subordinate labor organization may adopt theconstitution and bylaws of a national or international union and the subordinate organization willnot have to file copies of these documents under the conditions stated in that section oftheRegulations.

This exemption from filing copies is limited to the adoption of the constitution and bylaws of anational or international labor organization and therefore if a local union has adopted theconstitution and bylaws of a district council, the localmustfile two copies of the districtcouncil’sconstitution andbylawswithits LM-1.
However, Item 18 on the Form LM-1 must be answered by every labor organization, includingthose governed by the constitution of an international labor organization, either by a detailedstatementorbyreferenceto theconstitution filedon behalf ofthe reportingorganization.

205.120FILINGOFCONSTITUTIONONBEHALFOFSUBORDINATES

Section 402.3 of the Regulation on "Labor Organization Information Reports" permits aninternational labor organization to file copies of its constitution on behalf of its subordinateorganizations provided that the subordinate organizations indicate in their filings that they haveadoptedsuchinternationalconstitution.ThissectionoftheRegulationdoes not,however,relievethe subordinate organizations of the responsibility in regard to reporting the provisions made orprocedures followed with respect to the matters asked about in Item 18 of Form LM-1. Suchprovisions or procedures may be reported by giving citations to a document which containsdetailed statements describing the provisions or procedures or by the submission of a detailedstatementwhich describestheprovisionsorprocedures.

SeealsoInstructionsonuseofLM-1, PreparingThis Form.

(TechnicalRevisions:Dec.2016andJan.2021)