Government union bosses have been using a loophole in federal law to make taxpayers foot the bill for their own private organizing, and now one United States senator is looking to close it.
U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the “No Union Time on the Taxpayer's Dime Act,” which he reports “would prohibit the misuse of taxpayer dollars for union-related activities by federal employees during work hours.”
“Taxpayers should not be burdened with the cost of federal employees engaging in union activities,” said Senator Lee. “Federal salaries are funded by the taxpayers, who rightfully expect federal employees to work on their assigned duties while on the clock. The No Union Time on the Taxpayer's Dime Act ensures that union-related activities are conducted on personal time and at personal expense.”
“Since the passage of the Civil Service Reform Act in 1978, the practice known as “official time” has allowed federal employees to use work hours for union-related activities and to handle cases before the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA),” Lee's office reports in a statement.
“This means federal employees can engage in union work, represent bargaining unit employees and advance union causes while being paid by the taxpayer,” they add.
That means taxpayers are forced to foot the bill to expand the power and influence of government unions to organize against taxpayers.
Taxpayer-funded government unions are also one of the biggest sources of cash and manpower for liberal political campaigns.
“The cost of this practice to the American taxpayer is significant. According to a 2016 report by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), federal employees spent 3.6 million hours on union-related business at a cost of $177.2 million,” Lee's office reports. “Under the Trump Administration, this number dropped to 2.6 million hours, costing $134.9 million. However, due to the lack of unified reporting requirements, the last available data is from 2019, creating a transparency gap in the current use of official time.”
According to Lee “the No Union Time on the Taxpayer's Dime Act will amend Section 7131 of Title 5 of the U.S. Code to explicitly prohibit the use of official time for federal employees. The updated law will state, “Any activities performed by an employee relating to the business of a labor organization shall be performed during the time the employee is in a non-duty status.”
The legislation is endorsed by Heritage Action, Americans for Prosperity, and the National Right to Work Committee.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
Thank you Senator Lee!
And thank you for this story.
The gall of these leaders of labor unions! Taxpayers should not be bankrolling the shenanigans of scallywags.