In The Washington Examiner Wednesday, Mark Flatten reports that in 2009 “unions representing federal workers used almost 3 million hours of official time, the equivalent of more than 1,400 full-time employees, at a cost of $129.1 million,” to conduct union business at taxpayer expense.
Michigan taxpayers also provide huge sums to pay union stewards to do union work on the public’s time. For example, Michigan Capitol Confidential reported that "39 districts combined to pay at least $2.7 million to cover the costs of teachers who work on union business."
Last April, a bill to prohibit this in public schools and local governments passed the House with every Democrat plus Republican Reps. McBroom, Muxlow and Zorn voting “no.” Inexplicably, the bill has been stuck ever since in the Senate Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing Committee chaired by Sen. Mark Jansen, R-Grand Rapids.
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