Irish
02-26-13, 17:40
This report has some really interesting numbers (http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2013/02/26/to_cut_government_spending_lay_off_the_loafers_100161.html). Here are a few snippets...
In a new report issued earlier this month, the Office of Personnel Management announced that the federal government paid over $156 million in 2011 for some of its employees to work as representatives for government unions, up from $139 million in 2010 and $129 million in 2009.
In government language that would make George Orwell smile, the time that federal workers spend working for their unions and not working for taxpayers is termed "official time." According to the report, "Official time, broadly defined, is paid time off from assigned Government duties to represent a union or its bargaining unit employees.".....
Government workers on "official time" have office space in a particular agency to which they are assigned, and are paid for full-time work by the taxpayers, including fringe benefits such as pension plans and medical insurance that many private-sector workers no longer receive.
OPM's new report, "Official Time Usage in the Federal Government," was released on February 15, just before a three-day weekend and a week of congressional recess. It shows that government employees spent more than 3.4 million hours in 2011 not working on government duties, up from 3.1 million in 2010 and 3 million in 2009.
The Department of Transportation spent $17.7 million in 2011 on 264,562 hours of official time, including salaries and benefits for both full-time and part-time employees. Some Department employees spent part of their day working for the government union, and others worked for their union full-time.
According to a letter from Kathy Roy, FOIA Officer at the Department of Transportation, 35 active workers did no work at all for the Department in 2012. The list can be found here. They were paid an average salary of $138,000, for a total cost to the Department of $4.8 million annually.
Phil Barbarello, Dean Iacopelli, and Timon Kalpaxis, three New York air traffic controllers who represent that National Air Traffic Controllers Association, were paid $179,700 annually for "official time." This includes merit pay and bonuses, but not benefits such as subsidized health insurance, retirement fund contributions, vacation, and sick leave.
The Environmental Protection Agency spent $2.6 million on part-time and full-time official time in 2011. In all, 17 employees were paid a total of $1.6 million, or an average of $96,000 each, not to work at all for the taxpayer. The three highest earners, each making $110,104 annually, were Rosezell Canty-Letsome and Diane Lynne representing the National Treasury Employees Union, and Karen Kellen representing the American Federation of Government Employees.
Taxpayer expenditure on official time at all federal and independent agencies shrank from $143 million in 2004 to $102 million in 2006, and then rose gradually about 7 percent a year, reaching $139 million in 2010. In 2011 it increased 12 percent to $156 million.
In a new report issued earlier this month, the Office of Personnel Management announced that the federal government paid over $156 million in 2011 for some of its employees to work as representatives for government unions, up from $139 million in 2010 and $129 million in 2009.
In government language that would make George Orwell smile, the time that federal workers spend working for their unions and not working for taxpayers is termed "official time." According to the report, "Official time, broadly defined, is paid time off from assigned Government duties to represent a union or its bargaining unit employees.".....
Government workers on "official time" have office space in a particular agency to which they are assigned, and are paid for full-time work by the taxpayers, including fringe benefits such as pension plans and medical insurance that many private-sector workers no longer receive.
OPM's new report, "Official Time Usage in the Federal Government," was released on February 15, just before a three-day weekend and a week of congressional recess. It shows that government employees spent more than 3.4 million hours in 2011 not working on government duties, up from 3.1 million in 2010 and 3 million in 2009.
The Department of Transportation spent $17.7 million in 2011 on 264,562 hours of official time, including salaries and benefits for both full-time and part-time employees. Some Department employees spent part of their day working for the government union, and others worked for their union full-time.
According to a letter from Kathy Roy, FOIA Officer at the Department of Transportation, 35 active workers did no work at all for the Department in 2012. The list can be found here. They were paid an average salary of $138,000, for a total cost to the Department of $4.8 million annually.
Phil Barbarello, Dean Iacopelli, and Timon Kalpaxis, three New York air traffic controllers who represent that National Air Traffic Controllers Association, were paid $179,700 annually for "official time." This includes merit pay and bonuses, but not benefits such as subsidized health insurance, retirement fund contributions, vacation, and sick leave.
The Environmental Protection Agency spent $2.6 million on part-time and full-time official time in 2011. In all, 17 employees were paid a total of $1.6 million, or an average of $96,000 each, not to work at all for the taxpayer. The three highest earners, each making $110,104 annually, were Rosezell Canty-Letsome and Diane Lynne representing the National Treasury Employees Union, and Karen Kellen representing the American Federation of Government Employees.
Taxpayer expenditure on official time at all federal and independent agencies shrank from $143 million in 2004 to $102 million in 2006, and then rose gradually about 7 percent a year, reaching $139 million in 2010. In 2011 it increased 12 percent to $156 million.