Posts tagged federal government employees
Homeland Security ends collective bargaining agreement with TSA workers
March 10, 2025 // In its announcement Friday, the TSA said it found that nearly 200 employees were working on union matters full-time while collecting a government salary — claims disputed by the union. Under federal law, employees serving as union representatives are entitled to devote part of their work time to union matters in a manner that is “reasonable, necessary, and in the public interest.” Trump implemented a similar reporting requirement during his first term, but it appears to have stopped during President Joe Biden’s time in office.
Utah Legislature bans collective bargaining for teachers unions and other public sector jobs
February 11, 2025 // “If there’s not going to be consensus, then let’s just run it on its face,” said Sen. Kirk Cullimore, the bill’s Senate sponsor. Labor experts say the proposal, which is headed to the governor’s desk, would establish one of the most restrictive labor laws in the country as Republicans seek to curb the political influence of teachers unions.
(I4AW) Report Shows Extent of Tax Dollars Spent on Public-Sector Unionism
January 17, 2025 // After the last official report was compiled in 2019, the OPM stopped reporting the hours and costs involved in union-related “official time” despite repeated calls from House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx for President Trump’s 2018 Executive Order to be honored. Pushback continued in 2023 when Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) directed a letter to the OPM querying why the website reporting page went missing in July of that year, only to be told the site was undergoing “maintenance”. In March of last year, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) introduced legislation entitled the Taxpayer-Funded Union Time Transparency Act which called on a return to reporting on the part of the OPM regarding time spent on collective bargaining. In August, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced a bill entitled the No Union Time on the Taxpayer’s Dime Act to curtail union activities by federal employees during work hours. All these attempts to increase transparency for taxpayers were roadblocked by Democrats in Congress and even now, the site still has not re-emerged – making I4AW’s report even more critical.