Posts tagged GAO
How a Biden federal employee got paid for ‘teleworking’ while actually spending four DAYS in jail on a DUI charge
August 15, 2024 // Vargas was also arrested on three other occasions, including for multiple DUIs, between 2020 and 2022. During that time, she also served as the former president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3138. Read More EXCLUSIVE Social Security whistleblower reveals 'weeks to months' response time for 'simple requests' due to telework abuse article image In April 2023, Vargas allegedly 'confessed' to an AFGE staff member that she misappropriated $17,000. However, after a review, the federation found that the amount was actually closer to $20,500. In August 2023, she was 'suspended' from all AFGE affiliated offices.
Minimum Wages Wreak Labor Havoc
August 9, 2024 // Let’s consider the recent experience of California. It raised the minimum wage of restaurant workers from $16 to $20 per hour. In just the first two months after the law took effect, 10,000 jobs were destroyed and prices at restaurants have risen. In 2019, lawmakers in New York City passed a nearly identical piece of legislation. They increased the minimum wage from $13 to $15 per hour (equivalent to $18.72 today). The result was eerily similar. 90 percent of restaurants surveyed had raised prices, nearly 77 percent reduced employee hours, and 36 percent eliminated jobs. As then-president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, Thomas Grech, pointed out, “[small businesses are] cutting their staff. They’re cutting their hours. They’re shutting down.”
Opinion: Bill Would End Taxpayer-Funded Union Activities by Federal Employees
August 5, 2024 // Although the Trump-Pence administration tried to rein in official time—limiting it to no more than 25% of employees’ time—the Biden-Harris administration reversed those reforms. Taxpayers presumably once again pay some employees to spend 100% of their time working for their unions. I say presumably because the Biden-Harris administration removed the Office of Personnel Management’s webpage on official time, which had provided transparency for more than a decade on how many federal employees did work for their union instead of for taxpayers, and how much time they spent doing it. Although we no longer know how many federal employees use official time, or how much total time they’re using, the disappearing webpage doesn’t indicate that official time has declined.
Biden administration defends decision to nix union accountability effort
March 29, 2024 // Now, in its letter to lawmakers, OPM points out it has moved the official time data to an “agency reports” webpage. However, the last official time report on the site is from fiscal year 2019, meaning none have been completed since Biden took office. No other official time reports are listed on the OPM reports page. “Most tellingly, Director [Kiran] Ahuja offered no apology for the removal of the official time webpage, made no commitment to restoring it, and declined to commit OPM to producing any additional estimates of taxpayer-funded union time use and costs in the future…” Maxford Nelsen, a labor policy expert at the Freedom Foundation, told The Center Square.
Biden admin silent as federal accountability site for union work remains missing
March 13, 2024 // OPM had altered its federal database to make it easier for unions to target and recruit employees not supporting the union. “This upgraded resource will be an excellent tool for our union to locate non-union employees across the federal government who are rightfully entitled to representation and a voice in their workplace,” NFFE National President Randy Erwin said in the release, which has now been removed. “NFFE specifically requested assistance in identifying the hundreds of thousands of unrepresented government workers, and today OPM delivered on its commitment to promote employee organizing and collective bargaining by rolling out the enhanced database. We are excited to help these federal employees who have not yet joined a union organize in their workplaces and obtain critical rights and benefits through unionizing.”
GOP senators press for report on ‘official time’ use by federal unions
December 19, 2023 // An agency spokesperson said in a statement to Federal Times that “previous reports on official time are not currently available because OPM is reorganizing our website to improve navigation and customer experience.” The Wayback Machine, an internet archive site, indicates the last time these reports were accessible on the web page was in July. OPM did not say when it would make an updated report publicly available. Official time Unions have said official time is an essential protected resource that allows them to be effective and timely when defending employees who have been discriminated against. It also help resolve issues before they balloon into more complicated conflicts, they say.
Biden Bypasses Senate Confirmation in Labor’s Julie Su
October 3, 2023 // According to the GAO, she can stay in the top Labor Department post without Senate confirmation. That effectively cuts out the voters and sets a poor precedent. Now, should some federal secretary depart, the president need only appoint an “acting” replacement. According to the Government Accountability Office, that person can avoid Senate confirmation and remain on the job, regardless of their suitability for the post.
Biden’s New ‘Prevailing Wage’ Rule Will Cost Taxpayers, Benefit Unions, and Hike Inflation
August 18, 2023 // Actually, the changes are a significant step backward. Biden is effectively undoing a major change made by the Reagan administration—changes that were made, fittingly, to help combat inflation. That change, made in 1982, repealed the "30 percent rule" that guided the process for determining what wages would be paid on which projects. Under the 30 percent rule, the prevailing wage for any particular area would be based on the highest wages paid to at least 30 percent of workers within the same area. You don't need an advanced degree in accounting to see how that mandate could artificially hike wages on federal projects. The government barred itself from even considering bids that might pay average wages, thereby obligating taxpayers to pay more than they might have had to in an open market.
Unions push back on Biden plan to bring federal workers back
August 9, 2023 // Biden has directed Cabinet officials to “aggressively execute” plans to reinstate in-person work for federal workers this fall, more than three years after the administration maximized telework policies amid the COVID pandemic. Axios first reported the stepped-up callback Friday, citing a memo from White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients. Biden pledged in his State of the Union address that “the vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person,” and the adminisration has followed followed by slowly transitioning to more in-person work. In April, instructions for agencies to end maximum telework and create plans to bring people back to the office were sent out by the Office of Management and Budget. A report published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that out of the 24 federal agencies, 17 of them estimated that they used 25 percent or less of their headquarters buildings capacity.
Was This The Plan All Along?
July 26, 2023 // Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, asked the Biden Administration Thursday to withdraw the nomination and warned that “(A)ny attempts to bypass the will of Congress, especially its constitutionally mandated advice and consent role, is unacceptable.” Su was the deputy labor secretary until her predecessor, Marty Walsh, left to take over the NHL players union, triggering her acting secretary status. Typically, under a law called the Vacancies Act, Su, who was nominated about four months ago, would have a 210-day time limit – for her, that’s mid-October – to her “acting” term. However, the Labor department has its own “succession statute” which states that the deputy becomes the acting secretary automatically and shall “perform the duties of the Secretary until a successor is appointed…” The labor statue has no time limit – confusion aspect one. The second issue is that Su’s nomination is still technically “pending” before the Senate.