newYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
No one knows how much taxpayers spend bargaining with federal labor unions President-elect Donald Trump This error can be corrected. Building on the reforms of his first administration and with the support of the new Department of Government Efficiency, he could direct every federal agency to report how much it spent on dealing with government labor unions, something no agency had ever done. Disclosing this information would provide transparency and accountability to the American people, who are sure to be shocked to learn what the federal government is negotiating and what its costs are.
As President Ronald Reagan's first term director United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM), I've seen firsthand how costly the federal collective bargaining process is to taxpayers — and how it's virtually invisible to the public eye. Trump knows this is a problem, too, having issued an executive order in 2018 directing federal agencies to disclose union benefits, which OPM estimates amount to $163 million annually.
However, this executive order — which President Joe Biden rescinded immediately after taking office — was just the beginning. More importantly, examine the larger cost that taxpayers might bear: How much will taxpayers bear? The federal bureaucracy spends money negotiating with unions, Managing union contracts and negotiating with unions in the federal workforce, which numbers more than 1 million taxpayer-funded workers.
'Back to work': House oversight of government work by telephone in first hearing of new Congress
Union perks are certainly worthy of attention. Notably, union representatives often perform union work such as negotiating contracts or fighting disciplinary actions for taxpayer dollars. Some federally paid workers spend 100% of their time doing union-related work, meaning these public employees are not serving the public.
The federal government spends $163 million annually on union benefits, but no one knows how much more it spends on negotiating with unions. File: The US Office of Personnel Management building in Washington on June 5, 2015. (Reuters/Gary Cameron)
Unions also routinely receive free or discounted access to federal property. At the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem, Va., a state union received half a hospital wing — more than 5,000 square feet, with a kitchen, private bathrooms and an outdoor patio, mostly for the union president.
Click here for more Fox News opinions
However, the cost of bargaining deserves equal attention. The little information available paints a picture of heavy spending on what matters. Last fall, North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx, then chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, documented how state unions conduct negotiations with federal agencies.
This includes compromising on the height of office desks, requiring designated smoking areas on federal property that are tobacco-free, and recognizing employees' right to wear spandex clothing. Americans pay for every second that federal officials sit in front of their union counterparts and argue over such issues, as well as all the related travel expenses, paperwork, and legal hopping.
New report from American Worker Institute, The book, “The Transparency Required in the Federal Collective Bargaining Process,” sheds more light on these costs. The institute sent Freedom of Information Act requests to 28 federal agencies seeking data on collective bargaining-related expenditures. Twenty-one people responded, although none had complete records.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Small Business Administration spent more than $6 million on salaries for employees participating in collective bargaining in 2022 and 2023. The Department of Labor spent more than $1 million in travel-related costs. Given that there are hundreds of federal agencies, these numbers represent a small fraction of the total cost to taxpayers.
For the sake of taxpayers, the facts must come to light. Trump can provide real transparency by requiring agencies to annually disclose the amount of their spending on federal collective bargaining and the impact of that spending on government efficiency and effectiveness. Americans deserve to know how much they pay to negotiate with unions over wearing underwear, smoking cigarettes, and everything else that has nothing to do with public service.
