Report: Ending Taxpayer Funded Union Work

InsideSources reports on Trey Kovacs’ study on the practice of official time.

Official time allows federal employees to do union tasks instead of their regularly assigned work. The policy costs taxpayers an estimated $162 million annually. The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a report arguing that lawmakers should consider reining in the practice.

The report highlights several key areas of concern including costs and mismanaged federal employees. An estimated one thousand federal employees spent every hour at work doing union activities. The report also notes that official time usage is likely underreported.

“Congress should eliminate this federal union subsidy,” the report argues. “At a minimum, it should require detailed annual reporting, and agencies should improve their tracking of union activity. Taxpayers have a right to know how much of their tax dollars are used to finance federal employee unions.”

The report adds official time is problematic because it uses taxpayer dollars for something that doesn’t serve the public interest. Official time instead serves the interest of unions and their members. Supporters counter that official time allows federal unions to properly fulfill their legally mandated duties.

Read the full article at InsideSources.