By Caroline May, The Daily Caller
In a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from Americans for Limited Government, the Internal Revenue Service revealed this month that 201 of its employees work full-time on union activities.
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed suit in D.C. Circuit Court against the Social Security Administration (SSA) for ignoring a CEI FOIA request that sought records on the use of “official time” by SSA employees.
This week Senator Rob Portman and Sen. Tom Coburn sent a letter to the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs with a message that applies equally to the employees of every other federal agency:
Did you know you’re paying for union officials to do union business with your tax dollars, a practice known as “official time”?
Office of Senator Tom Coburn
In a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, Dr. Coburn and Sen. Portman ask the department to clarify its procedures, practices, and policies for employees who are paid taxpayer-funded government salaries to perform work not related to government duties. In this practice, known as “official time”, government employees perform union duties instead of official government work, and in the VA’s case, these employees could hinder efforts to secure the well-being of our nation’s veterans.
By Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News
Does a law permitting federal workers to do union work while on the clock at their government jobs shortchange veterans? That’s the suggestion from a pair of key Republican senators who have asked Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki for an accounting of what is known as “official time” at his agency.
By Congressman Dennis Ross, fedsmith.com
Each day, our taxpayer dollars are wasted. They are wasted on countless projects and activities including failed energy programs that are propped up by our administration, on government bailouts of billion-dollar private companies, and on federal employees conducting union business on official taxpayer time.
By Amanda Palleschi, National Journal
Government unions can expect to see the revival of legislation aimed at their rights to conduct union business.
By Ralph Smith, FedSmith.com
“Official time” refers to a practice under which the federal government pays the salaries of federal employees who work as union representatives. In other words, the government pays a person to work on behalf of the union while still receiving salary as a federal employee.
By Eric Katz, Government Executive
A bill to require more transparency in the practice of “official time” — when public sector union officials receive taxpayer funded salaries and work in government offices — cleared a House oversight committee Wednesday.