Union sues Trump for ordering fed workers to stop doing so much union business on taxpayers’ dime

DCNFRob Shimshock, DCNF

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A federal workers union sued President Donald Trump Wednesday over an executive order limiting the amount of time federal workers can spend conducting union business on official time, Bloomberg reported.

Trump signed the order on May 25 with several others prohibiting federal workers from collecting pay for time spent lobbying the government, charging rent to union workers using federal office space and directing more aggressive union contract bargaining.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) filed a complaint over the order in a federal court in Washington, D.C. The union is asking the court to block one of the orders because it violates the First Amendment and separation of powers, according to Bloomberg.

“This is more than union busting — it’s democracy busting,” AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr. said in a statement Friday after the orders were announced. “These executive orders are a direct assault on the legal rights and protections that Congress has specifically guaranteed to the 2 million public-sector employees across the country who work for the federal government.”

The order in question limits the time federal workers can spend conducting union business — such as filing grievances and negotiating contracts — to 25 percent of their taxpayer-payed work time.

A May 17 report by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) found federal workers spent $174.8 million worth of time on union activities in 2016 — all of it taxpayer funded — Inside Sources reported.

“The data shows that Taxpayer Funded Union Time is at a steady increase,” OPM Director Jeff T.H. Pon said, according to Inside Sources. “This Administration is passionate about protecting hardworking Americans and the use of their tax dollars.”

Follow Tim Pearce on Twitter

For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles