A report reveals that every year, taxpayers foot the bill for approximately $100 million worth of workers who aren’t carrying out their official duties but are instead employed by unions that negotiate on behalf of government employees against management. The government has monitored and published such data for many years, but the Biden administration has withdrawn it.
The “official time” policy allows hundreds of government employees who haven’t worked full-time to do union work for years to remain on the federal payroll.
Whether workers agree with the policy or not, it is costly for taxpayers and helps unions financially. For example, unions oppose in-person work and fight against accusations of misbehavior while advocating legislation that prioritizes workers’ interests over taxpayers.
Since 2019, when the government paid for 2.6 million hours of employee time that were actually spent on union business, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has not updated the data.
OPM said it was revamping its website to enhance user experience and navigation. Therefore, previous statements on official hours are not accessible. But after months of waiting, the site hasn’t been updated.
OPM has been evasive when asked about its data collection practices, the lack of reports covering years beyond 2019, and whether or not the news outlets can access them.
In a recent report, the Freedom Foundation cast doubt on OPM’s answer. According to the think tank, supporting unions and using public data to further one’s own agenda are two separate things.
The Washington Examiner discovered over 500 government workers in 2014 who, although receiving a full-time paycheck from taxpayers, performed little to no work related to their actual duties. This was due to “official time.” Nearly 300 VA personnel on full-time union releases and 200-plus IRS employees are included in that number.
Former Senator Tom Coburn voiced his opinion that “official time” should not be paid for by the federal government. That is the purpose of paying union dues. It irritated him that taxpayers must support someone to perform a job they aren’t doing, like being a nurse or air traffic controller. Their only job is to support the union.
