On Aug. 11, ABC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in support of its proposal to rescind the 2016 persuader rule, officially named the "Interpretation of the 'Advice' Exemption in Section 203(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act." Approximately 965 ABC members also submitted comments through voterVOICE and ABC’s Action App.

ABC has consistently opposed the persuader rulemaking since it was first proposed in 2011. On March 24, 2016, the previous administration issued the final persuader rule, and six days later, on March 30, ABC and a coalition of stakeholders filed a lawsuit challenging the rule in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. ABC’s lawsuit remains pending.

On Nov. 16, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a permanent injunction blocking the final rule. 

The 2016 persuader rule would have significantly broadened the reporting requirements of employers, attorneys, trade associations and other third-party advisors under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act by redefining what is meant by labor relations “advice.”

It also would have greatly limited the ability of employers, particularly small businesses, to obtain advice from labor relations experts, and in turn deprived employees of their right to obtain balanced information about union representation. 

Additional updates on the persuader rule will be provided in Newsline.