(a) As an additional safeguard, section 401(g) provides that no
money of an employer is to be contributed or applied to promote the
candidacy of any person in an election subject to the provisions of
title IV. This includes indirect as well as direct expenditures. Thus,
for example, campaigning by union stewards on company time with the
approval of the employer would violate section 401(g) unless it can be
shown that they are on legitimate work assignments, and that their
campaign activities are only incidental to the performance of their
assigned task and do not interfere with its performance. This
prohibition against the use of employer money includes any costs
incurred by an employer, or anything of value contributed by an
employer, in order to support the candidacy of any individual in an
election. It would not, however, extend to ordinary business practices
which result in conferring a benefit, such as, for example, a discount
on the cost of printing campaign literature which is made available on
the same terms to other customers.
(b) The prohibition against the use of employer money to support the
candidacy of a person in any election subject to the provisions of title
IV is not restricted to employers who employ members of the labor
organization in which the election is being conducted, or who have any
business or contractual relationship with the labor organization.
