House GOP Targets Federal Workers

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

UCS News Services- Look out, federal workers, Republicans in Congress want to “empower” you by busting your unions.

Their “Empower Employees Act” would prohibit the government from automatically deducting union dues from federal employees’ paychecks. But since federal workers already have the power to decide whether they want the payroll deduction, the bill--introduced in early June--is “union-busting” clearly intended to be “a dagger” to the heart of federal unions, Matthew Biggs, political and legislative director of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers told the Washington Post.

The proposal is just the latest in a slew of Republican bills targeting federal unions. Other legislation being considered includes a bill that would prohibit unions reps from doing certain union work on government time, while the House in early June passed a bill than would ban the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from bargaining with its employees. Some 44,000 of TSA workers voted in June to be represented by the American Federation of Government Employees.