Bill Would Make Federal Employees Conduct Union Business on Their Own Time

Taxpayers wouldn't have to subsidize private activity

Try asking your boss if you can help organize a political protest and shout down opposing viewpoints during company time and at company expense. If you're like most Americans, chances are good that'd be the second-to-the-last conversation you'd have with a company official — right before the one that leads to cleaning out your desk.

But unionized government workers are not like most Americans.

That's why Brigitte Nieland, vice president of the Education and Workforce Development Council for the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, is keen on congressional legislation introduced in early January that would put an end to "official time" – a controversial practice that allows federal employees to conduct union business during working hours unrelated to their work responsibilities.