Republicans Launch Attack On "Official Time" For Union Activity
Thursday, June 9, 2011(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
A little bit of Wisconsin came to Capitol Hill last week when
Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) – the Chairman of the House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee – held a hearing on the use of “official time”
for union activity by federal employees, reports Library of Congress
Professional Guild President Saul Schniderman. “The long-standing practice of
union stewards and officers using ‘official time’ to handle grievances and
other representational activity is granted by government agencies in amounts
that are negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement,” says Schniderman,
“but this practice has Republican House members riled.” While AFGE President
John Gage defended time used by union representatives, witnesses from the
conservative Heritage Foundation and the Competitive Enterprise Institute called
for end of official time for federal employees because it “forces taxpayers”
to subsidize union activities. “Ranking member Elijah E. Cummings (D- MD) made
some startling comparisons between Governor Scott Walker's union busting
activities in Wisconsin and the Republican attack on official time,”
Schniderman adds. “He then shocked the hearing room by announcing that he had
research that showed that the two conservative organizations which testified had
received over 1.3 million dollars in donations from the notorious Koch
Brothers.” Click
here for coverage by the Washington Post.