Congressman Rooney Introduces Bill to Stop Government Employees from Getting Paid Taxpayer Dollars for Union Activity

Congressman Rooney introduced the Do Your Job Act to end official time, an abusive practice where government employees use paid time off to perform union duties.

Congressman Rooney stated, “Union official time is a taxpayer funded subsidy that cost hard-working Americans at least $162.5 million in 2014. Unions and federal agencies never report exactly how many federal workers are being granted official time, and at least hundreds of federal employees spend 100% of their time engaging in union activities while on the clock. This is a clear abuse of taxpayer dollars, and it does nothing to advance the interests of the American people who end up paying for it.

“The only restriction on official time is that it can’t be granted for internal union business, but it happens anyway. There’s no reason for federal workers to be paid a government salary to perform union work. I introduced this bill to stop this unfair practice and to ensure that federal employees are working for all taxpayers, not for unions.”

Background:

The Do Your Job Act would limit the amount of official time granted to a federal employee to the time that the employee is on a non-duty, or unpaid status. It also removes the current requirement that federal agencies grant official time under the Federal Labor Management Relations Act (FLMRA).