Posts tagged taxpayers
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.”
Walberg, Allen Seek Trump DOJ Assistance in Recovering Bailout Payments that Funded Pensions for Dead People
February 21, 2025 // The Committee’s oversight work highlighted gross mismanagement of the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program that was included in the American Rescue Plan Act. Taxpayers funded pensions for dead people to the tune of more than $164 million for 33 plans that have paid the money back. However, more than 30 other union plans have yet to pay back any of the overpayments. In the letter, the chairmen write: “As part of this investigation, the Committee is seeking information about the steps DOJ is taking to ensure that taxpayer money is recovered after the Biden-Harris administration made improper payments to multiemployer pension plans."
Commentary: CalPERS takes unnecessary risks that could cost taxpayers
February 3, 2025 // When CalPERS fails to meet its expected investment returns, California’s state and local governments—meaning taxpayers—are solely responsible for covering the resulting shortfall. Public pension liabilities are legally binding. There is no defaulting on them. Consequently, when public pension system investments underperform, government employers—again, taxpayers—must cover the gap.
Trump offers all federal workers an 8-month buyout to resign
January 29, 2025 // Of the 3 million federal workers, roughly 374,000 or 12%, work in the Washington metropolitan area, which includes the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and parts of West Virginia, according to data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank. The largest percentage of federal workers are employed outside the nation’s capital. Federal workers account for the 15th largest workforce in the nation, and their average tenure is 11.8 years, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Office of Personnel Management data.
REPORT: How government unions work against interests of private-sector unions, taxpayers
January 22, 2025 // First, there is no archetypal profit motive in the government sector. Congress passed laws promoting collective bargaining in the private sector to prevent the exploitation of workers by employers who were seeking to increase their profits through long work hours and poor working conditions.
Federal bailout gives $635 million to carpenters union pension plan
November 24, 2024 // The federal government is spending $635 million in taxpayer funds to bail out a multiemployer pension fund for a Detroit carpenters union. Pension experts warn that the bailout comes with little or no accountability and no indication that it won’t happen again. Julie Su, acting secretary of labor, announced the bailout in a video posted to her X account Oct. 18. Su credited the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, which appropriated $86 billion for union pensions.
COMMENTARY: Overregulating Local Firefighters Could Leave Us All Burned
October 29, 2024 // The proposed rule is yet another example of administrative overreach, spanning approximately 83 pages and incorporating an additional 2,552 pages of ever-changing industry “consensus standards” from the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA). It is worth noting that the NFPA is a captured third-party organization heavily influenced by manufacturers and the International Association of Fire Fighters union. Mandating these standards is also flawed because the term “consensus standard” is misleading at best. NFPA standards, which are incorporated as “minimums,” are aspirational goals. In Connecticut, no fire department — whether career, volunteer, or combination — is 100 percent compliant with these standards. This discrepancy is not unique to Connecticut; rather, it reflects the reality across the nation.
Chicago Teachers Union members sue union bosses over missing financial reports
October 14, 2024 // Specifically, the CTU financial secretary is required by union bylaws to “furnish an audited report of the Union which shall be printed in the Union’s publication.” Similarly, the CTU Board of Trustees is to “procure each year, a reliable and adequate audit of the finances of the Union for the preceding fiscal year ending June 30, and to deliver a copy of said audit to other major officers and to announce to the membership of the Union that said report may be inspected in the Union office by any member.” The last audit was released September 9, 2020, and covered the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 fiscal years. Audits for 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 fiscal years have not been released.
Op-Ed: Hochul needs to shut down this pricey home-health-care power grab
September 25, 2024 // And bidders are all too likely to fold: “The political world does not mess” with 1199 SEIU,” snarks Empire Center health-industry expert Bill Hammond. “Any bidder with the slightest understanding of what they were getting into when entering into this contract would know what that meant when [1199 SEIU] put that piece of paper in front of them.” Unionizing 200,000 caregivers would be a huge win for 1199, which already boasts 450,000 members. Yet it would defeat the purpose of the program — which, again, is to help family members, not unionized employees, to care for loved ones.
Opinion: Political Vendettas Put Small Business in the Crossfire
August 17, 2024 // Senator Bernie Sanders’ recently released Amazon Investigation Interim Report is an example of such an effort that put America’s small business community in the crossfire. I can't help but think that the report was created to serve a personal agenda against the nation’s largest online marketplace. It relied on outdated data to draw misleading conclusions that Amazon is a uniquely dangerous workplace and sets an inappropriate and extreme precedent rife with questionable methodology and bias. Read Newsmax: Political Vendettas Put Small Business in the Crossfire | Newsmax.com Important: Find Your Real Retirement Date in Minutes! More Info Here