Bill Would Make Unionization Of Federal Workers More Difficult
House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price has introduced legislation that would bar the federal government and Washington DC from deducting union dues directly from federal and city employees’ paychecks. In addition, the measure would require a majority of the federal employees in a proposed collective bargaining unit support vote to support a proposal of union representation. The Washington Post reported in its “Federal Eye” blog that Price says “he wants to protect how federal employees’ ‘hard-earned dollars are used by union leadership,’ adding, ‘The Federal Employee Rights Act would offer basic paycheck, workplace, and ballot protections, putting the interest of federal employees first.’” The Post took an acerbic view of Price’s proposed legislation, saying it would “obstruct federal unions and has been denounced as an attempt to destroy them,” and saying the title is “deceptive because federal employees are not required to join unions or pay dues.” However, eliminating paycheck deduction “would be a serious blow to the labor organizations.” National Treasury Employees Union President Tony Reardon said, “Preventing union dues from being deducted would save zero money and has only one purpose – to reduce union membership.” The Post added that the Bureau of Labor Statistics says the membership rate for public sector unions is 35.2 percent, while private sector unionization rate has fallen to 6.7 percent.
What This Means For Small Business
Rep. Price’s legislation would make it more difficult for federal employee unions to organize and collect dues from members. Public sector unions inevitably support big government – more taxation, more spending, more programs, and more regulations. The burden of government falls disproportionately on small businesses. While it is not clear that Price’s bill has sufficient support to pass Congress, where the Democratic minority in the Senate can still block GOP initiatives, it would help reduce the pressure to grow government and would ultimately benefit small business owners.
Additional Reading
The NFIB has previously explained its opposition to forcing government workers join public sector unions.
Note: this article is intended to keep small business owners up on the latest news. It does not necessarily represent the policy stances of NFIB.
