Trump executive orders curtail union business on the taxpayer dime

The Washington Times ^ | Friday, October 11, 2019 | Trey Kovacs

[E. Pluribus Unum]

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Imagine each working day, federal employees report for work but do not perform any governmental duties. Instead, they work for a private enterprise void of any public purpose — their union. Taxpayers pay for these employees’ wages, pensions and health care benefits. Taxpayers pay for office space, supplies and travel, too.

Unfortunately, there is no need to imagine. It is a longstanding and wasteful practice, known as union official time. Generally, federal employees on official time perform union business such as negotiate contracts, file grievances, attend union conferences and even lobby Congress.

The latest data from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) estimates the union subsidy costs $178.8 million, with federal employees spending 3.6 million hours conducting union business. It is important to note that these figures are estimates that do not include the cost of office space and other perks, and likely lowball because federal agencies do a poor job tracking and recording the hours spent on official time and the costs.

Back in May 2018, President Trump issued three executive orders to curtail official time and to make federal agencies more accountable and fiscally responsible. Specifically, the orders will make it easier to remove federal employees for poor performance and misconduct, require agencies to negotiate more effective union contracts and limit the amount of time federal employees conduct union business on the taxpayers’ dime.

Shortly after the orders were issued, multiple labor unions filed lawsuits against the orders and won a temporary injunction. That ended on Oct. 2, 2019, when a federal appeals court lifted the injunction on the executive orders.

[AlaskaErik]

About time.

[Innovative]

Can the gov abolish unions, as no longer needed?

[SamAdams76]

I’m pretty sure that this “union time” also consisted of holding election signs (for Democrats) outside polling places on Election Day. At least this was rampant on the state level when I was growing up in Massachusetts.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Even that Commie Franklin Delano Roosevelt opposed public sector unions.

[Chode]

make unions collect their own dues!!! no reason we should do their bagman and bookkeeping duties for them

[hal ogen]

I hope he goes further and abolishes these loser-government-”worker” unions. I believe they were started with an EO...end them with an EO. if the government “workers” have a problem...they should quit.

[PeterPrinciple]

Specifically, the orders will make it easier to remove federal employees for poor performance and misconduct, require agencies to negotiate more effective union contracts and limit the amount of time federal employees conduct union business on the taxpayers’ dime.

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Theses executive orders were challenged but now in place?

Notice the focus of the article.

[T Ruth]

Can the gov abolish unions, as no longer needed?

The federal government can absolutely abolish federal employee unions. They were created by Executive Order by President Kennedy. They can be abolished by Executive Order.

From Wikipedia:

Executive Order 10988 is a United States presidential executive order issued by President John F. Kennedy on January 17, 1962 that recognized the right of federal employees to collective bargaining. This executive order was a breakthrough for public sector workers, who were not protected under the 1935 Wagner Act.

Passage of the executive order forestalled the legislative Rhodes-Johnson Union Recognition bill, which would have given more power to federal employee unions, possibly creating a union shop arrangement.[1][2]

Executive Order 10988 was effectively replaced by President Richard Nixon's Executive Order 11491 in 1969.

[yldstrk]

When I was a government lawyer, we had to go to some dumb orientation about the union. I threw all the pamphlets in the trash right in front of the presenter lol

[Deplorable American1776]

Great news...