Posts tagged federal workers
Bill Prohibiting Union Time on Taxpayers’ Dime Would Extend Trump EO to Entire Federal Workforce
April 10, 2025 // With the average federal employee receiving almost $163,000 in total compensation (including $106,400 in pay and $56,600 in benefits), the time federal employees spend working for their union can add up quickly. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability discovered that 1,030 Social Security Administration employees spent a total of 242,237 hours on official time in fiscal year 2023. This cost taxpayers $15.1 million, including $1.43 million to pay 14 employees who spent 100% of their time working for their union. Meanwhile, senior citizens across the country were struggling to get in touch with Social Security Administration employees and unable to get in-person appointments at their local Social Security Administration offices.
Workers at Defense Health Agency spent $3.3 million and 87,000 hours working on their own union benefits
April 7, 2025 // Federal unions are restricted from negotiating benefits and pay by the Federal Service Labor Management Relations Statute. Instead, benefits and pay are determined by law set by Congress and federal regulations. But federal unions can negotiate over more minor aspects of working conditions. “This includes things like the height of cubicle panels, securing designated smoking areas on otherwise smoke-free campuses, and the right to wear Spandex at work,” Rachel Greszler, a senior research fellow on workforce and public finance at the Heritage Foundation, previously told The Post.
Federal Workers Get Second Musk Buyout Offer
April 2, 2025 // The initiative bears many of the hallmarks of Musk’s “Fork in the Road” offer in January, which allowed federal workers to leave their jobs in February but continue being paid through September. This time the offers are being made agency-by-agency as part of each department’s mandate to reduce the size of its workforce. Deadlines and rules for eligibility differ by department.
Trump Order Could Cripple Federal Worker Unions Fighting DOGE Cuts
March 30, 2025 // The move added to the list of actions by Mr. Trump to use the levers of the presidency to weaken perceived enemies, in this case seeking to neutralize groups that represent civil servants who make up the “deep state” he is trying to dismantle. In issuing the order, Mr. Trump said he was using congressionally granted powers to designate certain sectors of the federal work force central to “national security missions,” and exempt from collective-bargaining requirements. Employees of some agencies, like the F.B.I. and the C.I.A., are already excluded from collective bargaining for these reasons.
Blackburn: By reining in federal labor unions, Congress can cut down on government waste | OPINION
March 27, 2025 // That’s why Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and I recently introduced the Federal Workforce Freedom Act, which would put a stop to all collective bargaining agreements between federal agencies and labor unions. Among its provisions, this legislation would prohibit federal employees from participating in labor unions for the purposes of collective bargaining, ban federal agencies from engaging in collective bargaining negotiations, and immediately terminate all collective bargaining agreements.
MARYLAND: Gov. Wes Moore, lawmakers stand with unionized state and federal employees
March 25, 2025 // The bill passed out of the House chamber with an amendment to provide an additional $1.5 million to Attorney General Anthony Brown, a Democrat, to sue the Trump administration on behalf of terminated federal employees. It has yet to move in the Senate chamber.
Lawmakers propose banning all federal labor unions
March 17, 2025 // “This legislation would end federal labor unions and immediately terminate their collective bargaining agreements to ensure the federal government is working on behalf of the American people – not labor unions – by increasing the productivity of its workforce,” Blackburn said in a statement. If passed, the bill would affect 25% of the federal employee workforce who are members of public sector unions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The leader of a major government union outlines their strategy to battle Trump federal cuts—And says Elon Musk has ‘no clue’ about workers
March 16, 2025 // We’re filing these lawsuits—that's number one. We are pushing even though we understand that the climate here in Washington, D.C. is not the best. But we’ve still got to continue to go on the offense, as I said earlier. We are supporting the PRO Act, which would give workers the right to have a seat at the table to improve labor labor law in this country. We're doing the same thing with the Public Freedom to Negotiate Act for public service workers.
Teamsters’ President O’Brien Shares ‘Inside Baseball’ Into NLRB and PRO Act Machinations in Washington “The PRO Act was going to be used as a political pawn.”
March 6, 2025 // When Williamson goes after Trump for “destroying” the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by firing Gwynne Wilcox, O’Brien explains the “inside baseball” being played inside Washington, explaining to Williamson how the “PRO Act was going to be used as a political pawn” (by Democrats). O’Brien then explains how the Teamsters are working with Democrats and Republicans to enact a “version” of the PRO Act and how his union avoids using the NLRB.
White House requires federal agencies to disclose time spent working for unions instead of taxpayers
March 4, 2025 // A Feb. 27 memo from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to all federal departments and agencies declared they can only authorize official time in amounts that are “reasonable” and that they must “monitor its use to see that it is used efficiently.” They must also submit annual reports to OPM on the amount authorized. Union members traditionally elect a fellow worker to act as their representative for issues like bargaining contracts or dealing with grievances. This person, usually called a “shop steward,” is expected to perform union activities in addition to their regular job. In some cases, these union officials are paid through membership dues and work exclusively on their members’ behalf. The federal government, however, allows the workers to do union stuff full-time while still technically drawing a salary from their official job. The practice is dubbed “official time.”