On Monday, unions across Canada will be celebrating Labour Day with parades, barbeques, and other community festivities. While a good time will certainly be had, unionized workers footing the bill will likely be left in the dark about the cost. The same can be said of the millions unions allegedly spend on political and social activism each year. The fact is that little is required of unions in Canada in terms of disclosing financial information. It’s high time they publicly opened their books.

First, consider that neither the provinces nor the federal government requires any public disclosure of union financial information. This special treatment is rather striking given the disclosure requirements of public companies, charities, and other public organizations, and the fact that unions are funded from tax deductible union dues.

While all jurisdictions lack public disclosure, seven provinces (British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland) as well as the federal government require unions to make financial statements available to their members upon request. Sadly, only four provinces (British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland) require the financial statements to be independently audited.

None of the eight jurisdictions that require unions to provide their members with financial statements prescribes the amount of detail that must be submitted. That is, unions are not required to delineate expenses by type of activity. Most importantly, there is no requirement that financial statements indicate a breakdown between money spent on activities directly related to representing workers and activities unrelated to representation such as Labour Day barbeques, political activities, and the like.

Union members must also formally request the financial statements, meaning the requests are not anonymous. Without anonymity, workers’ confidentiality and ability to make their own conclusions without influence from union representatives is seriously compromised.

In comparison, United States requires significantly more from unions. All unions are required to submit detailed financial statements to the Federal Department of Labor (DOL). Large unions—those that spend over $250,000 per year—are required to provide information for forty-seven financial items and another twenty-one non-financial items organized into two financial statements and twenty supporting schedules. Less onerous requirements are imposed on smaller unions (those that spend less than $250,000).

In addition, all unions in the United States must specify the breakdown between spending on collective representation and spending not related to representation. And all statements submitted to the DOL are posted on its web site in order to allow for anonymous access by any interested party or individual.

The differences in union disclosure laws in Canada and the United States are exacerbated by differences in laws regarding union membership and union dues payments. In Canada, workers can be forced to join a union as a condition of employment and are required to pay full union dues.

This stands in stark contrast to United States where workers cannot be required to join or maintain membership in a union in order to retain their jobs. In addition, federal laws in the US allow workers a choice when it comes to financially supporting union activities that are not directly linked with worker representation, such as political activities.

In other words, US workers have a choice regarding union membership and full dues payment and have anonymous access to detailed information on union finances; Canadian workers have neither.

Providing Canadian workers with detailed information about the financial status of unions would enable workers to more accurately assess the financial position, activities, and performance of their representatives. The increased transparency that comes from public disclosure is also essential for accountability and provides the incentive for union leaders to properly manage membership dues.

At a minimum, Canadian workers should demand the same level of financial disclosure accorded to their counterparts in the US. As the saying goes, a little information would go a long way.