A new report has found out that several federal employees who work full time as the union employees are being paid from the taxpayers’ money. Experts believe that the report highlights how much control the federal governments have over the federal agencies. They also believe that the report shows that no one wants to change the status quo as everyone is benefitting from it. Some agencies are working hard to change the status quo so that the taxpayers’ money can be put to better uses.
How Many Federal Employees are Benefitting
The report was created through the Freedom of Information Act requests. It discovered that about 490 federal employees who work as full-time union employees are getting paid by using the taxpayers’ money. The report was recently published by the Americans for Limited Government Foundation. The vital report also highlighted the departments which had the most number of such employees. The departments of Education, Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security and Labor are among them. It also includes employees from the U.S. Postal Service and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Money Spent
The report divulged that this practice has cost about $1 billion over the past 20 years and it was paid through the taxpayers’ money. The amount increased further if the money spent by the local and state government was also counted.
Experts Speak
Jared Labell, who is currently serving as the Executive Director of Chicago-based Taxpayers United of America shared his opinion on the report. He stated that the report clearly shows that unions have a lot of influence on the federal agencies and the agencies don’t seem to have any incentive to change. This practice is benefitting the labor unions, the politicians so no one wants to change it.
The Efforts
Labell stated that this issue of paying the federal employees working full time for the union by using the taxpayers’ dollars is highlighted by his organization at the state level so that some reforms can be enacted that lessen the influence of unions on the taxpayer-funded agencies. He said that by emphasizing the issue, his organization hopes to bring changes at the federal levels as well. He also expressed hope that other organizations would join in the effort so that the issue can get maximum exposure and the speed at which the reforms are expected can be expedited.
