We did no verification at SSA’s six other regions. The overall time spent on union activities has grown steadily, from 254,000 hours in 1990 to over 413,000 in 1995. SSA Plans to Improve Its Time-Tracking System

SSA is currently developing a new system to better track and account for time spent on union activities in its field offices and teleservice centers. SSA has also reported to the Congress that the number of full-time representatives—those spending 75 percent or more of their time on union activities—grew from 80 to 145 between fiscal years 1993 and 1995. IRS records showed that their union representatives reported spending 527,000 hours on union activities in fiscal year 1995. Postal Service records show that during fiscal year 1995, union representatives at the Postal Service reported spending 1.7 million hours of official time on the early stages of grievance processing and handling. In discussions with National Labor Relations Board officials, we were told that some private-sector firms do not pay their employees’ salaries for the time they spend performing union activities, and other firms pay for at least some of the time. Workers in the private sector are more likely to financially support unions representing them. To resolve ongoing disputes about official time in SSA field offices, SSA and AFGE signed a new contract in January 1990 that specified a fixed amount of official time to be used by the field office representatives for certain union activities; this time was called “bank time.” The contract also specified additional allowable time for other union activities; this was called “nonbank time.” No fixed amount of official time was specified for nonbank time, however, and the union and SSA disagreed over which activities qualified as bank time activities and which qualified as nonbank time activities. Amount and Cost of Time Spent on Union Activities

During fiscal year 1995, Postal Service employees charged about 1,744,000 hours to union activities related to the early stages of grievance resolution at a cost of over $29 million for salaries. GAO Comments

1. It also states that, today, unions operating in federal government agencies have significant involvement in operational and management decisions. 2. 3. 4. A recorded menu will provide information on how to obtain these lists.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the time and expenses devoted to union activities at the Social Security Administration (SSA) and other large federal agencies, focusing on: (1) how SSA accounts for employee salaries and expenses for union activities; and (2) union activities in the private sector.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) federal agencies have the discretion to grant employees official time for certain union activities; (2) government employee unions are significantly involved in operational and management decisions but generally cannot bargain over employees' pay and other economic benefits; (3) over the last 6 years, the time spent on union activities at SSA has grown from 254,000 hours to at least 413,000 hours annually, at a cost of $12.6 million in 1995; (4) the number of full-time union representatives at SSA grew from 80 to 145 between 1993 and 1995; (5) although SSA is developing a new system to more accurately track the time spent on union activities, it plans to replace only the automated reporting system for union representatives in SSA field offices and teleservice centers; and (6) SSA field managers stated that their having no involvement in decisions about how much time individuals spend on union activities causes problems in managing day-to-day operations. GAO also found that: (1) the Postal Service reported that 1.7 million hours were spent on union activities related to grievances in fiscal year (FY) 1995; (2) the Internal Revenue Service reported spending 527,000 hours on union activities in FY 1995; and (3) some private-sector employers pay at least some of the salaries and expenses of union representatives, while others do not.