A memo on chcoc.gov expands an earlier directive for agencies to report to OPM information on the use of official time. Image: Cherdchai101/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffFederal agencies have been told to tally up and report to OPM the costs related to contract negotiations and other aspects of labor-management relations, saying that “To date the federal government has not attempted to systematically track the cost to federal collective bargaining negotiations.”
A memo on chcoc.gov expands an earlier directive for agencies to report to OPM information on the use of official time—on-the-clock time for employees with union roles to perform certain union-related duties, including bargaining. While agencies have continued to internally track use of such time—whose amounts are themselves negotiable—OPM has not issued a government-wide report since 2019.
The new memo asserts that “During the Biden Administration, federal agencies spent millions bargaining sweetheart collective-bargaining agreements (CBAs) that imposed significant costs on the American taxpayer while impeding effective and efficient agency operations. Agencies paid for both the costs of their and their unions’ bargaining teams.”
“Existing evidence suggests these costs may be substantial. The Social Security Administration, for example, reported that it cost the agency over $1.8 million to negotiate CBAs with two of its bargaining units. This figure does not include the cost of midterm bargaining that arose during these CBAs,” it says.
It requires agencies to report to OPM by April 18 on the compensation and other costs for employees related to bargaining, and to process grievances, engage in mediation, resolve bargaining disputes and more. It also calls for information on all contracts currently in place, how long the negotiation process took, and their scheduled expiration dates.
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