The Trump administration is digging further into federal employees’ union activities, according to a memo the Office of Personnel Management published Thursday evening.
OPM is asking agencies to submit information on federal employees’ use of “official time” — or on-the-clock hours that go toward union-related work such as negotiating contracts or resolving employee disputes. OPM is also asking for the names and job titles of all employees who are spending any of their work hours on official time.
In the memo, OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell described official time as “taxpayer-funded union time.”
“President Trump has promised to restore efficiency and accountability in the federal government,” Ezell wrote. “In support of this objective, OPM is requiring agencies … to authorize taxpayer-funded union time only in amounts that are reasonable, necessary and in the public interest and to monitor its use to see that it is used efficiently.”
OPM’s memo on Thursday also told agencies to share how many bargaining unit employees they currently have, as well as any expenses or reimbursements made by agencies for employees who use official time. Agencies have until March 14 to respond to OPM’s request for data.