The Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (also "LMRDA" or the Landrum–Griffin Act), is a US labor law that regulates labor unions' internal affairs and their officials' relationships with employers. Background After enactment of the Taft–Hartley Act in 1947, the number of union victories in National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)-conducted elections declined. During the 12-year administration of the Wagner Act, which was enacted in 1935, unions won victories in over 80 percent of elections. But in that first year after passage of the Taft–Hartley Act in 1947, unions won only around 70 percent of the representation elections conducted by the agency. During the mid-to-late 1950s, the labor movement was under intense Congressional scrutiny for corruption, racketeering, and other misconduct. Enacted in 1959 after revelations of corruption and undemocratic practices in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Longshoremen's Association, United Mine Workers and other unions received widespread attention, the Act requires unions to hold secret elections for local union offices on a regular basis and provides for review by the United States Department of Labor of union members' claims of improper election activity. Organized labor opposed the act because it strengthened the Taft–Hartley Act of 1947. It was sponsored by Democrat Phil Landrum and Republican Robert P. Griffin. The drafting was assisted by Clyde Summers. Content Important provisions of the law were as follows: Unions had to hold secret elections, reviewable by the Department of Labor. Union members are protected against abuses by a bill of rights including guarantees of freedom of speech and periodic secret elections of officers. Members of the Communist Party and convicted felons were barred from holding union office. The bar on Communist Party members was ruled unconstitutional in 1965. Unions had to submit annual financial reports to the DOL. Every union officer must act as a fiduciary in handling the assets and conducting the affairs of the union. Unions' power to put subordinate bodies in trusteeship, a temporary suspension of democratic processes within a union, was limited. Minimum standards were made before a union could expel or take other disciplinary action against a member of the union. The LMRDA covers both workers and unions covered by the National Labor Relations Act ("Wagner Act") and workers and unions in the railroad and airline industries, who are covered by the Railway Labor Act. The LMRDA does not, as a general rule, cover public sector employees, who