As bad as it is that employees of unionized companies are lied to about the money that is forced out of their paychecks and into union coffers, equally disgusting is how much non-union U.S. taxpayers pay for union political and representational activities. According to a recent report by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), government employees working on behalf of unions during work hours (and away from their normal jobs) cost taxpayers $162.5 million in 2014 – up $5 million from 2012. Another report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute disclosed findings that 700 federal government employees do absolutely no work for which they were hired, and work exclusively for the union. Here’s a quick list of some of the agencies identified and the number of workers who spend 100% of their time on union activities:
- Department of Veterans Affairs – 346
- Social Security Administration – 15
- Transportation Department – 26
- Agriculture Department – 29
- Environmental Protection Agency – 16
- Small Business Administration – 2
- General Services Administration – 17
- Energy Department – 2
- Education Department – 3
- Labor Department – 17
- Commerce Department – 4
- Department of Homeland Security – 39
- Internal Revenue Service – 200 (now that one hurts…!)
These are only those that have been ferreted out by FOIA requests or disclosed by various agency reports. The actual impact is estimated to be much larger than anyone will ever be able to piece together.
