Social Security: Union Activity at the Social Security Administration
(Letter Report, 10/02/96, GAO/HEHS-97-3).

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.

GAO found that: (1) federal agencies have the discretion to grant
employees official time for certain union activities as long as the
official time is deemed reasonable, necessary, and in the public
interest; (2) government employee unions are significantly involved in
operational and management decisions, but generally cannot bargain over
employees' pay and other economic benefits; (3) the time spent on union
activities at SSA has grown from 254,000 hours annually to at least
413,000 hours annually at a cost of $12.6 million; (4) SSA pays the
salaries and expenses of about 200 employees to represent the interests
of 52,000 employees represented by unions at SSA; (5) the number of
full-time union representatives at SSA grew from 80 to 145 between 1993
and 1995; and (6) although SSA is developing a new system to track the
time spent on union activities, it plans to replace only the automated
reporting system for union representatives in SSA field offices. GAO
also found that: (1) union representatives at the Postal Service spent
1.7 million hours on union activities related to grievances in fiscal
year (FY) 1995; (2) Internal Revenue Service representatives reported
spending 527,000 hours on union activities in FY 1995; (3) workers in
the private sector are more likely to financially support their unions
because these unions bargain over employee wages, hours, and benefits;
and (4) some private-sector employers pay at least some of the salaries
and expenses of their union representatives.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  HEHS-97-3
     TITLE:  Social Security: Union Activity at the Social Security 
             Administration
      DATE:  10/02/96
   SUBJECT:  Government employee unions
             Labor-management relations
             Labor negotiations
             Personnel management
             Collective bargaining
             Leave
             Federal employees
             Attendance records
             Accounting procedures
IDENTIFIER:  Social Security Trust Fund
             
******************************************************************
** This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a  **
** GAO report.  Delineations within the text indicating chapter **
** titles, headings, and bullets are preserved.  Major          **
** divisions and subdivisions of the text, such as Chapters,    **
** Sections, and Appendixes, are identified by double and       **
** single lines.  The numbers on the right end of these lines   **
** indicate the position of each of the subsections in the      **
** document outline.  These numbers do NOT correspond with the  **
** page numbers of the printed product.                         **
**                                                              **
** No attempt has been made to display graphic images, although **
** figure captions are reproduced.  Tables are included, but    **
** may not resemble those in the printed version.               **
**                                                              **
** Please see the PDF (Portable Document Format) file, when     **
** available, for a complete electronic file of the printed     **
** document's contents.                                         **
**                                                              **
** A printed copy of this report may be obtained from the GAO   **
** Document Distribution Center.  For further details, please   **
** send an e-mail message to:                                   **
**                                                              **
**                                            **
**                                                              **
** with the message 'info' in the body.                         **
******************************************************************


Cover
================================================================ COVER


Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Social Security, Committee on
Ways and Means, House of Representatives

October 1996

SOCIAL SECURITY - UNION ACTIVITY
AT THE SOCIAL SECURITY
ADMINISTRATION

GAO/HEHS-97-3

Union Activities at SSA

(105151)


Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV

  AFGE - American Federation of Government Employees
  BNA - Bureau of National Affairs
  FLRA - Federal Labor Relations Authority
  IRS - Internal Revenue Service
  NFFE - National Federation of Federal Employees
  NTEU - National Treasury Employees Union
  OPM - Office of Personnel Management
  SSA - Social Security Administration
  ULP - unfair labor practices
  VA - Department of Veterans Affairs

Letter
=============================================================== LETTER


B-266105

October 2, 1996

The Honorable Jim Bunning
Chairman, Subcommittee on Social Security
Committee on Ways and Means
House of Representatives

Dear Mr.  Chairman: 

Since the early 1960s, federal agencies have allowed unions to
conduct union-related activities during official duty hours.  Union
activities generally include representing employees in complaints
against management, bargaining over changes in working conditions and
the application of personnel policies, and negotiating union
contracts with management.  The federal government pays its
employees' salaries and expenses for the portion of time they are
allowed to spend on union activities; it also provides other support,
such as space, supplies, equipment, and some travel expenses.\1
Federal union members generally cannot bargain over wages and cannot
strike, and federal employees are not required to join unions and pay
union dues in order to be represented by the union. 

Given the budget constraints facing federal agencies, you expressed
concern about the amount of time and expenses devoted to union
activities and paid for by the federal government.  In particular,
you were concerned about the amount of money the Social Security
Administration (SSA) pays for union activities out of the Social
Security trust funds. 

Because of your interest in this matter, you asked us to look at the
history of union involvement in the federal government; the statutory
basis for the federal government to pay employee salaries and
expenses for union activities; the amount of time spent on and costs
associated with union activities at SSA; and how the agency accounts
for this time and money.  You also asked us to comment on how the
amount of time and money spent by SSA on union activities compares
with what is spent by other large federal agencies, such as the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS), and how it compares with the amount spent by the U.S.  Postal
Service, which operates more like a private-sector company.  Finally,
you asked us to provide information on union activities in the
private sector.  We initially testified on these matters before the
Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Social Security, on June
4, 1996.\2

To develop this information, we interviewed management and union
officials at SSA headquarters and 4 of SSA's 10 regional offices.  We
also reviewed union contracts, payroll records, and time-reporting
forms.  In addition, we reviewed yearly reports of time spent on
union activities and verified the time reported by reviewing source
documents at one region and selected headquarters components.  We
supplemented our field work with telephone calls to three additional
SSA regions to verify that similar time-reporting procedures were
used. 

We also met with union and management officials at VA, IRS, and the
Postal Service to compare their union time and costs with SSA's.  VA
does not operate a national union time-reporting system to aggregate
time spent on union activities.  At IRS and the Postal Service, we
obtained available information on union activity from headquarters
and selected field facilities, but did not verify its accuracy.  We
also discussed the role and function of unions in the federal
government with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and
discussed the private-sector use of time for union activities with
labor-relations experts at various trade associations, colleges, and
universities.  We also reviewed a 1995 Bureau of National Affairs
(BNA) publication that summarized trends in labor/management
contracts for private industry.  Finally, to determine the types of
contract provisions that exist in private industry for spending time
on union activities, we reviewed 10 contracts on file at the Bureau
of Labor Statistics.  We did our work between August 1995 and August
1996 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. 


--------------------
\1 The U.S.  Postal Service generally does not pay the salaries and
expenses of full-time union representatives.  Instead, salaries and
expenses are covered by union dues.  The Postal Service does,
however, pay for the time spent on union activities by some part-time
union representatives and for union-occupied space in postal
facilities. 

\2 Social Security:  Union Activities at the Social Security
Administration (GAO/T-HEHS-96-150, June 4, 1996). 


   RESULTS IN BRIEF
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :1

Federal labor/management relations were formalized by executive order
in the early 1960s.\3 In 1962, an executive order permitted federal
agencies to grant official time for certain meetings between
management and union representatives, at the discretion of the
agency.  The management control prevalent when the first executive
order was issued has evolved over time.  Today, unions operating at
federal government agencies have significant involvement in
operational and management decisions but generally cannot bargain
over pay and other economic benefits.  The use of "official time,"
which generally is defined as authorized paid time off from assigned
duties for union activities, has become a routine method of union
operation in the federal government.  It is important to note,
however, that managers and employees would spend time interacting on
personnel and working condition matters even if there were no unions
operating at agencies.  Currently, there is no governmentwide
requirement to capture or report official time charges. 

We determined that over the last 6 years, the time spent on union
activities at SSA has grown from 254,000 hours annually to at least
413,000 hours annually at a cost--largely to SSA's trust funds--of
$12.6 million in 1995 alone.  That is, SSA currently pays the
equivalent of the salaries and expenses of about 200 SSA employees to
represent the interests of the approximately 52,000 employees
represented by unions at SSA.  This cost is a portion of the $5.5
billion SSA incurred in administrative expenses in fiscal year 1995. 

In addition, SSA has reported to the Congress that the number of
full-time union representatives, those devoting 75 percent or more of
their work time to union activities, grew from 80 to 145 between 1993
and 1995.  We found, however, that the reporting system for
collecting such data does not adequately track the number of union
representatives charging time to union activities or the actual time
spent.  Consequently, we conducted a limited verification of the
hours spent on union activities as reported by SSA and found that
this time was underreported.  While SSA is currently developing a new
system to more accurately track the time spent on union activities,
it plans to implement this system to replace only the automated
reporting system for union representatives in the field offices and
teleservice centers.  SSA is currently considering whether it will
improve the less accurate manual time-reporting system for its other
components. 

Under the terms of the current SSA union contract, which will expire
in 1999, the selection of union representatives and the amount of
time they spend on union activities are determined by the union
without the consent of local managers.  We found that over 1,800
designated union representatives in SSA are authorized to spend time
on union activities, although most of the time spent is by SSA's 145
full-time representatives.  Some SSA field managers told us that
their having no involvement in decisions about how much time is spent
by individuals and who the individuals are causes problems in
managing the day-to-day activities of their operations.  Union
representatives, on the other hand, told us that the time they use is
necessary to fully represent the interests of their coworkers. 

SSA reported that it paid for 404,000 hours for union activities in
fiscal year 1995 (a figure found to be lower than the actual hours
spent), as compared with 527,000 hours reported by IRS in fiscal year
1995.  The Postal Service reported that 1.7 million hours were spent
on union activities in fiscal year 1995 related to grievances.  This
Postal Service estimate does not include substantial additional time
spent on other types of union activities and paid for by either the
unions or the Postal Service. 

With regard to union activity in private industry, some employers pay
at least some of the salaries and expenses of union representatives,
as the federal government does, while others do not. 


--------------------
\3 Postal labor/management relations are governed by the Postal
Reorganization Act of 1970, which incorporates many provisions of the
National Labor Relations Act. 


   BACKGROUND
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :2

Labor unions are groups of employees organized to bargain with
employers over such issues as wages, hours, benefits, and working
conditions.  The current federal labor/management program differs
from nonfederal programs in three important ways:  (1) federal unions
bargain on a limited number of issues--bargaining over pay and other
economic benefits is generally prohibited;\4 (2) strikes and lockouts
are prohibited; and (3) federal employees cannot be compelled to
join, or pay dues to, the unions that represent them.  At SSA,
employees are represented by three unions:  the American Federation
of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents over 95 percent of
SSA employees who are represented by a union; the National Treasury
Employees Union (NTEU); and the National Federation of Federal
Employees (NFFE).  Of SSA's 65,000 employees, about 52,000
nonsupervisory employees are represented by the unions, and about 47
percent of those represented are dues-paying union members.  Union
operations at SSA are governed by a national AFGE contract and six
other union contracts with individual NTEU and NFFE components. 

At the other federal organizations we visited, 10 major unions had
national recognition:  5 at VA, 1 at IRS, and 4 at the Postal
Service.  A total of 165,000 employees were represented by these
unions at VA, 97,000 at IRS, and 751,000 at the Postal Service. 
Although other unions without national recognition represented Postal
Service and VA employees, the number of employees represented by
these unions was less than 1.5 percent of all represented employees. 

There are two main categories of official time, or paid government
time spent on union activities, at SSA.  The category known as "bank
time" in field offices, and equivalent categories in other
components, refers to time that is negotiated and limited by SSA
contracts with its unions.  Bank time includes time spent on union-
or employee-initiated grievances (complaints regarding any matter
related to employment) as well as on union-initiated activities, such
as training or representational duties.  The category known as
"nonbank time" in field offices, and equivalent categories in other
components, generally refers to time spent on management-initiated
activities; bargaining over changes to work assignments and working
conditions (such as disallowed leave, employee work space, and
equipment); management-initiated grievances; and any other time not
specifically designated as bank time. 


--------------------
\4 Postal unions, however, can bargain over wages and other economic
benefits. 


   HISTORY OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
   UNION ACTIVITY
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :3

In 1912, the Lloyd-LaFollette Act established the right of postal
employees to join a union and set a precedent for other federal
employees to join unions.  The government did little to provide
agencies with guidance on labor relations until the early 1960s. 

In 1962, President Kennedy issued Executive Order 10988, establishing
in the executive branch a framework for federal agencies to bargain
with unions over working conditions and personnel practices.  The
order established a decentralized labor/management program under
which each agency had discretion in interpreting the order, deciding
individual agency policy, and settling its own contract disputes and
grievances. 

In 1969, President Nixon issued Executive Order 11491, which
established a process for resolving labor disputes in the executive
branch by forming the Federal Labor Relations Council to prescribe
regulations and arbitrate grievances.  The Council consisted of the
Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, the Secretary of Labor, and
an official of the Executive Office of the President.  The order
transferred many of the functions of the former Civil Service
Commission to OPM.  It also clarified language to expressly permit
bargaining on operational issues for employees adversely affected by
organizational realignments or technological changes. 

In 1970, the Postal Reorganization Act brought postal labor relations
under a structure similar to that applicable to companies in the
private sector in that collective bargaining for wages, hours, and
working conditions was authorized subject to regulation by the
National Labor Relations Board.  However, like other federal
employees, postal employees could not be compelled to join or pay
dues to a union and could not strike. 

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 provided a statutory basis for
the current federal labor/management relations program and set up an
independent body, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), to
administer the program.  FLRA is composed of three members appointed
by the President and confirmed by the Senate.  The act authorized
FLRA to assume administrative functions previously performed by the
Council.  The act also expanded the scope of collective
bargaining--the process under which union representatives and
management bargain over working conditions--to allow routine
negotiation of some operational issues, such as the use of technology
and the means for conducting agency operations. 

In 1993, President Clinton issued Executive Order 12871, which
articulated a new vision of labor/management relations, called
"Partnership." Partnership required agencies to involve labor
organizations as full partners with management in identifying
problems and crafting solutions to better fulfill the agency mission. 
It also expanded the scope of bargainable issues.  This new
arrangement was intended to end the sometimes adversarial
relationship between federal unions and management and to help
facilitate implementation of National Performance Review initiatives,
which were intended to improve public service and reduce the cost of
government.  See appendix I for a discussion of the history of union
activities at SSA. 


   BASIS FOR PAYING SALARIES OF
   UNION REPRESENTATIVES
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :4

In 1962, Executive Order 10988 permitted federal agencies to grant
official time, which is generally defined as authorized, paid time
off from assigned government duties for meetings between management
and union representatives for contract negotiation, at the discretion
of the agency.  In 1971, Executive Order 11491 was amended to
prohibit the use of official time for contract negotiation, unless
the agency and union agreed to certain arrangements.  Specifically,
the agency could authorize and the union could agree to either (1) up
to 40 hours of official time for negotiation during regular working
hours or (2) up to one-half the time actually spent in negotiations. 
Over the next 4 years, a series of Federal Labor Relations Council
decisions and regulations continued to liberalize the use of official
time by allowing negotiations for the use of official time for other
purposes. 

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 authorized official time for
federal agency union representatives to negotiate a collective
bargaining agreement.\5 It gave employees a statutory right to
receive official time to attend contract negotiation meetings and
impasse proceedings without having to negotiate the time with
management.  The act also permitted agencies and unions to negotiate
whether union representatives would be granted official time in
connection with other labor/management activities, as long as the
official time was deemed reasonable, necessary, and in the public
interest.  The act continued to permit agencies to provide unions
with routine services and facilities at agency expense.  The act
prohibited the use of official time for internal union business, such
as solicitation of members. 


--------------------
\5 The Postal Service is not governed by this act.  The basis for
paying certain union representatives for specified union activities
at the Postal Service is contained in union contracts.  Contract
negotiations are carried out at union expense. 


   TIME SPENT ON AND COST OF UNION
   ACTIVITIES AT SSA
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :5

SSA has a time-tracking system in place; however, we determined that
some time spent on union activities has been underreported.  We also
determined that the official time that was reported has grown
steadily over the past 5 years.  Moreover, the executive order on
Partnership activities is likely to increase the time spent on union
activities in SSA, and perhaps in other agencies as well.  To better
account for time spent on union activities, SSA is planning to test a
new time-tracking system and, if it is successful, use it agencywide
to track time spent on union activities.  Finally, although SSA has
no formal system for tracking and calculating its union-related
costs, it does provide estimates of such costs annually to the
Congress.  Our estimates of SSA's costs for union activities in 1995
were $1.6 million higher than SSA's estimates. 


      TIME SPENT ON UNION
      ACTIVITIES HAS GROWN OVER
      TIME
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :5.1

SSA has a national system for reporting time spent on union
activities by union representatives.  This system is separate from
the agency's time and attendance and workload reporting systems. 
Under this system, union representatives generally fill out and
submit forms to their supervisors to account for union time.  The
hours reported on these forms are then periodically aggregated and
submitted to SSA headquarters for totaling.  This time-reporting
system consists of two component systems that cover roughly an equal
number of employees.  The first is an automated system that captures
time reported by union representatives working in field offices,
which are the primary point of public contact with SSA, and at
teleservice centers, where calls to SSA's national 800 number are
answered.  The second component is a manual system used to capture
time spent by union representatives at SSA headquarters, as well as
at Program Service Centers, the Office of Hearings and Appeals, and
other components.  Neither system is designed to capture either (1)
time spent by management on union-related matters or (2) the number
or names of individuals charging union time. 

We conducted a limited verification of time captured in SSA's
national reporting system at one SSA region and several headquarters
components.  By tracing source documents for union representatives'
time to reported totals in the system, we discovered additional time
not captured by the two systems in these locations.  These gaps
occurred primarily in the manual system and resulted from inaccurate
reporting from the source documents, overlooked reports for some
union representatives, and uncounted reports for some organizational
units during certain reporting periods.  We also verified only that
similar procedures were being used at three other regions, which
could result in similar underreporting at these locations.  We did no
verification at SSA's six other regions.  Figure 1 shows the total
time spent at SSA on union activities, including the additional time
we discovered. 

   Figure 1:  Total Time Spent on
   Union Activities at SSA,
   1990-95

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Sources:  SSA national time reports and results of GAO verification. 

The overall time spent on union activities has grown steadily, from
254,000 hours in 1990 to over 413,000 in 1995.  This is the
equivalent of paying the salaries and other expenses of about 200 SSA
employees to represent the 52,000 employees in the bargaining unit in
1995. 

Figure 2 shows the difference between SSA's national time reports and
the time our limited sample revealed was actually spent.  SSA
reported 254,000 hours of official time devoted to union activities
in 1990, 269,000 in 1991, 272,000 in 1992, 314,000 in 1993, 297,000
in 1994, and 404,000 in 1995. 

   Figure 2:  SSA-Reported and
   GAO-Determined Time Spent on
   Union Activities at SSA,
   1990-95

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Note:  GAO's verification of time charges was focused on 1995.  Some
additional unreported time was discovered in several of the earlier
years. 

Sources:  SSA national time reports and results of GAO verification. 

Because of limitations in SSA's reporting system, it is not possible
to estimate the actual time spent agencywide for any reporting
period.  Although it is likely that the actual time exceeds the total
we discovered (413,000 hours), our verification sample was not large
enough to be statistically valid, so it cannot be extrapolated to all
of SSA. 

To determine what contributed to the increase in time spent on union
activities between 1990 and 1995, we developed information on the
categories of time used.  Figure 3 shows that bank time has remained
relatively constant between 1990 and 1995 and that most of the
increase in time spent on union activities during this period is
attributable to nonbank time--mainly for bargaining activities. 

   Figure 3:  SSA-Reported
   Official Time by Activity,
   1990-95

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Note:  This chart does not include additional unreported hours found
by GAO. 

Source:  SSA national time reports. 

Figures 4 and 5 show that the number of certain nonbank/other
activities--such as unfair labor practices (ULP) cases and
arbitration cases (nonbank in the hearing stage) that result from
unsettled grievances--has declined in recent years. 

   Figure 4:  Number of SSA Unfair
   Labor Practices Cases, 1990-95

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Source:  SSA Office of Labor Management Relations. 

   Figure 5:  Number of SSA
   Arbitration Hearings, 1990-95

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Source:  SSA Office of Labor Management Relations. 


      PARTNERSHIP ACTIVITIES COULD
      INCREASE OFFICIAL TIME
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :5.2

The recent advent of Partnership activities in SSA will likely
increase the time spent on union activities.  The executive order on
Partnership directs agencies to involve unions as the representatives
of employees to work as full partners with management to design and
implement changes necessary to reform government.  Partnership
activities at SSA are just starting, and we found that these limited
activities are not routinely reported as such in SSA's union
time-reporting system.  It is possible, however, that some time spent
on Partnership activities is currently being reported in other
activity categories.  Consequently, as Partnership activities
increase, we would expect the time devoted to them to also increase. 
However, this will be evident only if agency time-reporting systems
adequately designate this time.  It should be noted that many public
and private organizations without unions are involving employees in
quality management initiatives similar to Partnership activities. 


      SSA PLANS TO IMPROVE ITS
      TIME-TRACKING SYSTEM
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :5.3

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.  The purpose of this system, according to SSA
officials, is to provide management and the union with a more
accurate and up-to-date accounting of time spent and the number of
employees working on union activities and to ensure that time
expended on certain activities does not exceed time allotted to the
unions by the contracts.  At the time of our review, SSA did not plan
to apply this new system to headquarters, the Program Service
Centers, the Office of Hearings and Appeals, or other components now
using the manual system.  SSA has now agreed, however, that an
automated agencywide reporting system would provide more accurate
data on the amount of official time spent on union activities.  It
stated that a limited test in one region's field offices will be
conducted in October 1996 and, if successful, will be expanded
agencywide. 


      SSA'S UNION COSTS ARE
      ACTUALLY HIGHER THAN SSA'S
      ESTIMATES
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :5.4

SSA has no system for routinely calculating and reporting the cost of
its union activity, although it does provide annual estimates of such
expenses to the Congress.  Figure 6 shows that SSA's estimates of
union costs increased from $6 million in fiscal year 1993 to $11
million in fiscal year 1995.  SSA's total administrative expense
budget estimate for fiscal year 1995 was $5.5 billion. 

   Figure 6:  SSA Expenditures for
   Union Activities, 1990-95

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Sources:  SSA Justifications of Estimates for Appropriations
Committees (fiscal years 1990-95) and GAO cost estimate for 1995. 

In order to determine the accuracy of SSA's estimates, we tried to
construct our own estimate of union-related costs.  Because the
salaries of union representatives make up most of the cost, we asked
SSA for a list of current representatives and the time they spend on
union activities.  SSA estimated that it had about 1,600 union
representatives, but the lists it maintained were outdated and
incomplete.  We identified about 1,800 union representatives who are
currently authorized by the union to spend, and have spent, time on
SSA union activities.  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.  We also identified 145 current full-time
representatives.  The average annual salary in 1995 for the 145
full-time representatives was $41,670.  In 1996, their salaries
ranged from $23,092 to $68,729.  Table 1 shows the annual salary
ranges of these representatives in 1996. 



                                Table 1
                
                      1996 Salary Ranges of Union
                   Representatives Spending 75 to 100
                     Percent of Their Time on Union
                               Activities

                                                                Number
                                                                    of
                                                                repres
                                                                entati
Salary ranges                                                      ves
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------
$0-10,000                                                            0
10,001-20,000                                                        0
20,001-30,000                                                       16
30,001-40,000                                                       36
40,001-50,000                                                       79
50,001-60,000                                                        9
60,001-70,000                                                        5
70,001-80,000                                                        0
80,001-90,000                                                        0
Over $90,000                                                         0
======================================================================
Total                                                              145
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources:  SSA Office of Labor Management Relations and SSA personnel
records. 

We estimate that the total cost to SSA for union activities of all
representatives was about $12.6 million in 1995.  We calculated the
1995 personnel cost to be $11.4 million by multiplying the average
hourly salary of union representatives (about $27.64, including
benefits) by the 413,000 hours we determined that the representatives
spent on union activities. 

We estimate that the remaining $1.2 million was spent on related
travel expenses; SSA's share of arbitration costs; and support costs
for such items as supplies, office space, and telephone use.  More
specifically, in accordance with the union contracts, SSA pays for
travel related to contract negotiations and grievance cases.  It also
pays the travel and per-diem costs of all union representatives
whenever meetings are held at management's initiative.  Union
representation at major SSA initiatives--such as the reengineering of
its disability programs, the National Partnership Council, and
Partnership training--has added to travel and per-diem costs.  In
1995, SSA estimated that it spent about $600,000 on travel-related
expenses for union representatives.  Union representatives told us
that the unions pay travel costs for union-sponsored training,
internal union activities, and some local travel. 

Under the national contract agreements, arbitration fees and related
expenses are shared equally between the unions and SSA.  SSA reported
that its share of arbitration costs was $54,000 for the 38 cases
heard in 1995.  Finally, SSA estimated its 1995 costs for telephones,
computers, fax machines, furniture, space, and supplies used by union
representatives at $500,000. 

We further determined that about $4.8 million in dues was collected
from union members in 1995, mainly through payroll deduction.  The
unions use these funds for their internal expenses, which include the
cost of lodging and transportation for union-provided training; the
unions' share of grievance costs; miscellaneous furniture, supplies,
and equipment for some union offices; the salaries of the AFGE local
president and his staff, who represent SSA headquarters employees;
and a share of national union expenses. 


      SSA MANAGEMENT AND UNION
      VIEWS DIFFER ON OFFICIAL
      TIME
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :5.5

SSA managers and union officials and representatives provided us
their views about the use of official time for union activities.  SSA
managers expressed concern to us and to the Congress about
limitations on their ability to effectively manage their operations
and control the use of time spent by their employees under the
current union/management arrangement.  By contract, the assignment of
union representatives and the amount of time they spend on union
activities are determined by the union without the consent of local
management. 

Of the 31 field managers we interviewed, 21 said that managing
day-to-day office functions is more difficult because managers have
little or no control over when and how union activities are
conducted.  They went on to say that they have trouble maintaining
adequate staffing levels in the office to serve walk-in traffic,
answer telephones, and handle routine office workloads.  In an April
1996 memo from the Deputy Commissioner for Human Resources to field
managers, SSA attempted to clarify the circumstances under which
requests for official time may be delayed or denied.  Additionally,
18 field managers expressed concern about the amount of time they
spend responding to union requests for information regarding
bargaining and grievances.  We did not verify the accuracy of any of
the field managers' statements.  We tried to quantify the time spent
by managers on union-related activities, but SSA had no
time-reporting system to track it.  It should be noted, however, that
managers would be spending some of their time interacting with
employees about similar issues even if there were no unions. 

Nine out of the 15 union officials and representatives we talked with
felt that tracking time spent on union activities was
counterproductive in the Partnership era.  They believed that union
representation is an important function, authorized by a negotiated
agreement with SSA, that enables them to represent the interests of
their coworkers.  They consider the amount of time currently
allocated for their activities as appropriate and believe that more
attention should be paid to the value of their efforts than to the
time it takes to conduct them. 


   COMPARISON OF TIME SPENT AND
   COST OF UNION ACTIVITY AT IRS,
   THE POSTAL SERVICE, AND SSA
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :6

IRS and the Postal Service provided data to us on time spent on union
activities in their agencies.  IRS records showed that their union
representatives reported spending 527,000 hours on union activities
in fiscal year 1995.  We did not attempt to verify this figure. 

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.  This number includes neither substantial amounts of
official time spent on employee involvement programs similar to SSA's
Partnership activities, which are paid for by the Postal Service, nor
official time spent on activities such as employee involvement
training and ULP charges.  Table 2 shows the reported amount of time
and cost devoted to union activities and the bargaining unit size of
each organization. 



                                Table 2
                
                  Fiscal Year 1995 Comparative Union-
                              Related Data

                                                                  Cost
                                        Bargai   Dues-          (milli
                                          ning  paying          ons of
                                          unit  member   Hours  dollar
Organization                              size       s   spent      s)
--------------------------------------  ------  ------  ------  ------
SSA                                     52,000  24,000  404,00    11.0
                                                             0
IRS                                     97,000  43,000  527,00      No
                                                             0    data
Postal Service                          751,00  623,00  1,744,    29.2
                                             0       0   000\a
----------------------------------------------------------------------
\a This number does not include substantial additional time spent on
union activities and paid for by either the unions or the Postal
Service. 

Source:  Unverified data provided by agencies. 

In fiscal year 1995, the Postal Service reported spending $29 million
in basic pay on grievance processing and handling for the 1.7 million
hours.  IRS did not develop cost data for union operations.  See
appendix II for additional discussion of union activities at other
agencies. 


   PRIVATE INDUSTRY HANDLES UNION
   COSTS IN VARIOUS WAYS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :7

Union operations in private industry vary widely.  In addition to
bargaining over working conditions, as SSA unions do, unions in
private industry bargain over wages, hours, and benefits.  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.  For example, our
review of 10 contracts revealed that 7 provided for employers to pay
company employees, acting as union representatives, to perform
certain union functions in addition to their company duties.  A 1995
BNA publication summarizing basic patterns in private industry union
contracts reported that over 50 percent of the 400 labor contracts
BNA analyzed guaranteed pay to employees engaged in union activity on
company time.\6

BNA reported that, in 22 percent of the cases with such pay
guarantees, management limited the number of hours it would pay for. 
BNA also reported that 22 percent of the contracts specifically
prohibited conducting union activities on company time. 

Private-sector employers negotiate company time with pay for union
representatives to handle grievances more frequently than they do for
contract negotiations.  Of the contracts reviewed by BNA, 50 percent
guaranteed pay for union representatives to present, investigate, or
handle grievances.  This practice was reported as occurring twice as
often in manufacturing as in nonmanufacturing businesses.  BNA
reported that only 9 percent of the contracts guaranteed pay for
employees to negotiate contracts. 

Forty-five percent of the private-sector contracts guaranteeing
employees pay when they conduct union activities on company time
place restrictions on representatives.  BNA reported that in 22
percent of the cases with such pay guarantees, management limited the
number of hours that it would pay for.  BNA also reported that 70
percent of the total contracts analyzed allowed workers to be granted
union leave to assume union office or to participate in union
business.  Our review of 10 private-sector contracts submitted to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics found 1 under which employees were limited
to 6 hours a day of company time for union representation and another
under which they were limited to 8 hours per week of company time for
processing grievances. 

A nationally recognized labor/management consultant told us that
private-sector unions do not usually negotiate contracts on company
time.  He said employees who negotiate contracts with employers may
receive union leave, in which case their salaries may be paid by the
unions either directly or by the unions reimbursing employers.  In
most cases, workers continue to accrue length of service credits
while on union leave. 

Workers in the private sector are more likely to financially support
unions representing them.  Unlike the federal labor/management
relations program, unions in the private sector can negotiate
contracts to require workers to financially contribute to unions as a
condition of employment.  All contracts reviewed by BNA included an
agreement providing for the unions to receive financial support from
workers, such as dues or service fees.  Sixty-four percent of the
reviewed contracts required workers to become members or maintain
membership as a condition of employment. 


--------------------
\6 Editors of Collective Bargaining Negotiations and Contracts, Basic
Patterns in Union Contracts (Washington, D.C.:  BNA, 1995). 


   CONCLUSIONS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :8

SSA, like other federal agencies and some private firms, pays for
approved time spent by its employees on union activities.  SSA has a
special fiduciary responsibility to effectively manage and maintain
the integrity of the Social Security trust funds, from which most of
these expenses are paid.  In a time of shrinking budgets and
personnel resources, it is especially important for SSA, as well as
other agencies, to evaluate how resources are being spent and to have
reliable monitoring systems that facilitate this evaluation. 

To ensure accurate tracking of time spent on union activities and the
staff conducting these activities, SSA has developed and is testing a
new time-reporting system for its field offices and teleservice
centers.  We agree that these are valuable goals for a time-reporting
system and believe that the new system should be implemented
agencywide, including at headquarters, Program Service Centers, the
Office of Hearings and Appeals, and other components currently using
the less reliable manual reporting system.  With an improved
agencywide system, SSA management should have better information on
where its resources are being spent. 


   AGENCY COMMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :9

In commenting on a draft of this report, SSA said that it believed
that we did not adequately portray the importance of Partnership
between SSA and its unions.  SSA agreed, however, with our conclusion
that an automated agencywide reporting system would provide more
accurate information on the amount of time spent on union activities. 
SSA also provided comments and observations about those areas in
which it believed adjustments should be made in the report.  Where
appropriate, the report has been revised.  SSA's comments and our
responses are included as appendix III. 

In commenting on our report, NTEU stated that Partnership activities
have been the predominant cause of increases in the use of official
time at IRS.  It believes the use of union-initiated time has dropped
during the same period.  In addition, NTEU provided information
developed by the National Partnership Council that indicates an
increase in federal employees' satisfaction with labor/management
relations since the advent of Partnership.  NTEU's comments are
included as appendix IV. 

IRS and the National Association of Letter Carriers provided
technical comments on our report, and changes have been made where
necessary.  AFGE, VA, the Postal Service, and the American Postal
Workers Union provided no comments on our report. 


---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :9.1

Copies of this report are being sent to the Commissioner of SSA, the
Secretary of VA, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the Postmaster
General, and other parties interested in Social Security matters. 
Copies will be made available to others upon request.  If you have
any further questions, please contact me on (202) 512-7215.  Other
staff who contributed to this report are listed in appendix V. 

Sincerely,

Jane L.  Ross
Director, Income Security Issues


HISTORY OF LABOR RELATIONS AT SSA
=========================================================== Appendix I


      EARLY UNION ACTIVITY
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:0.1

The Social Security Administration's (SSA) labor relations program
began in the early 1960s with the issuance of Executive Order 10988,
which established a framework for federal agencies to bargain with
unions.  Initially, unions' local bargaining units operated under
individual local contract agreements with SSA.  By the late 1970s,
the number of these units had increased to about 200.  In 1982, the
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest SSA
union, consolidated its locals in a national agreement with SSA. 
Since the early 1980s, the use of official time has been an ongoing
issue that has required arbitration and resulted in a redefinition of
official time. 


      SSA'S CURRENT UNION
      STRUCTURE
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:0.2

AFGE, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), and the National
Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) represent 52,000 SSA
employees, about half of whom pay union dues.  AFGE, which represents
over 96 percent of SSA employees who are represented by a union, was
the first union to organize.  NTEU represents approximately 1,600
employees, including a small number of Office of Hearings and Appeals
staff attorneys and others who were formerly Department of Health and
Human Services employees but became a part of SSA when it became an
independent agency.  About 25 percent of these are dues-paying
members.  NFFE represents approximately 104 nonsupervisory employees
in two Office of Hearings and Appeals locations, about 27 percent of
whom are dues-paying members.  Of the 1,800 union representatives at
SSA, 145 spend all their time on union activities.  The number of
full-time representatives has grown significantly in the last 3
years--from 80 to 145. 

Union operations at SSA are governed by a national AFGE contract and
by six other union contracts with individual NTEU and NFFE
components.  Bargaining units consist of nonsupervisory professional
and nonprofessional employees.  The Office of Labor Management
Relations represents SSA in its interactions with employee unions. 
AFGE's national contract with SSA is renegotiated every 3 years.  In
March 1996, SSA and AFGE agreed to roll over the existing contract
until March 1999, with some modifications.  NTEU has three separate
contracts, which are also renewable every 3 years.  NFFE has two
separate contracts, renewable every 3 years. 

All of SSA's union contracts contain provisions under which the
unions are allowed to carry out their duties, including, for example,
agreements concerning management and union rights, the number of
representatives allowed in certain organizational components, the use
and amount of official time, arbitration and grievance procedures,
and the use of agency facilities and equipment. 


      EVOLUTION OF OFFICIAL TIME
      ISSUES AT SSA
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:0.3

The use of official time, which is authorized paid time off from
assigned duties, became a major issue in SSA field components in
1982.  Disputes between SSA management and unions over the
interpretation of the provisions regarding using official time for
representational purposes resulted in the filing of hundreds of
grievances by union representatives.  As a result, the contract was
modified but was still subject to interpretation.  Finally, in 1983,
an arbitrator named Justin Smith was appointed by the American
Arbitration Association to resolve issues regarding the
interpretation of how official time was to be used for
representational activities.  Mr.  Smith significantly liberalized
SSA's official time interpretation and also designated himself as
arbitrator of all future official time disputes for the life of the
contract.  Over time, SSA disputed many of Mr.  Smith's rulings that
were favorable to the unions.  As a result of complaints by SSA
management, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) appointed a
second arbitrator, who ruled that Mr.  Smith had exceeded his
authority. 

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.  An
agreement was reached in August 1990 between SSA and AFGE that
clarified the definition of nonbank time activities to include
activities such as bargaining on management-initiated changes, FLRA
proceedings, and representing employees who have filed formal equal
employment opportunity complaints. 


UNION ACTIVITIES AT THE POSTAL
SERVICE, VA, AND IRS
========================================================== Appendix II

To compare the amount and cost of time charged to union activities at
other agencies with those charged at SSA, we met with agency and
union officials at the U.S.  Postal Service, the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  We
obtained information from each agency's headquarters and several
selected field units in Texas, including a mail processing and
distribution center, two post offices, a VA medical center, and an
IRS regional office in the Dallas metropolitan area; a VA regional
office in Waco; and an IRS service center in Austin. 


      UNION REPRESENTATION AT THE
      THREE AGENCIES
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix II:0.1

Like unions in the private sector, unions representing Postal Service
employees bargained for wages and working conditions.  Like most
other unions in the federal sector, the collective bargaining of the
unions representing VA and IRS employees was limited to personnel
policies and practices and other similar quality-of-work-life issues. 

A total of 10 major unions had national recognition at the Postal
Service, VA, and IRS:  4 at the Postal Service, 5 at VA, and 1 at
IRS\7 (see table II.1).  At the field facilities that we visited,
employees were represented by 6 of the 10 unions, and all of the
employees at the VA field facilities that we visited who were
represented by a union were represented by AFGE. 



                               Table II.1
                
                Unions Representing the Postal Service,
                              VA, and IRS

                            Postal
Union                       Service       VA            IRS
--------------------------  ------------  ------------  --------------
American Postal Workers     X
Union

National Association of     X
Letter Carriers

National Postal Mail        X
Handlers Union

National Rural Letter       X
Carriers' Association

American Federation of                    X
Government Employees

American Nurses                           X
Association

National Association of                   X
Government Employees

National Federation of                    X
Federal Employees

Service Employees                         X
International Union

National Treasury                                       X
Employees Union
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At the Postal Service, about 751,000 employees were represented by
unions; at VA, about 165,000; and at IRS, about 97,000 (see table
II.2).  Although other unions without national recognition
represented Postal Service and VA employees as well, the number of
employees represented by these unions was 1.5 percent or less of the
total number of employees represented by unions at those agencies. 
IRS employees were represented only by the National Treasury
Employees Union. 



                               Table II.2
                
                   Number of Employees Represented by
                Unions With National Recognition, Fiscal
                               Year 1995

                                                                Number
                                                                    of
                                                                employ
Agency/Union                                                       ees
--------------------------------------------------------------  ------
Postal Service                                                  751,12
                                                                     0
American Postal Workers Union                                   354,28
                                                                     3
National Association of Letter Carriers                         243,36
                                                                     7
National Rural Letter Carriers' Association                     96,382
National Postal Mail Handlers Union                             57,088
VA                                                              165,41
                                                                     7
American Federation of Federal Employees                        122,79
                                                                     3
National Federation of Federal Employees                        14,163
National Association of Government Employees                    10,894
Service Employees International Union                            9,768
American Nurses Association                                      7,799
IRS                                                             96,564
National Treasury Employees Union                               96,564
----------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------
\7 In this context, having "national recognition" means the unions
had a nationwide agreement with the agency, were members of the
National Partnership Council, or both. 


      AMOUNT AND COST OF TIME
      SPENT ON UNION ACTIVITIES
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix II:0.2

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.\8
These hours did not include substantial additional time spent on
other union activities that were paid for by either the Postal
Service or the unions.  For example, the Postal Service also paid for
time spent on unfair labor practices (ULP) charges and employee
involvement programs and training, a practice that is similar to
Partnership activities at other federal agencies.  However, officials
at the Postal Service told us that it was in the process of
withdrawing its support for the largest employee involvement program
by reassigning about 400 of these full-time employees to their postal
duties.\9 Postal officials also told us that the salaries of an
additional 460 full-time union officials were paid by the unions.  In
addition, time that was spent by part-time union representatives on
the contract negotiation process was either paid for by the unions or
was considered "off the clock." Neither of these sets of time charges
and costs was included in the reported totals.  As discussed above,
VA did not have a time-reporting system to capture time charged to
union activities. 

IRS employees charged over 527,000 hours to union activities during
fiscal year 1995.  Of this total, about 348,000 hours, or 66 percent,
was "official time," which is defined by IRS as time spent
participating on behalf of the union in meetings called by
management.  Approximately 179,000 hours, the remaining 34 percent,
were "bank time," which IRS defines as time spent on all other
union-related activities, including grievance resolution, that are
managed locally.  IRS officials told us that they did not develop
comprehensive cost information related to the time spent by union
representatives on union activities or to the other support provided
to the union.  In addition, they could not provide information on the
number of full-time union representatives.  (See table II.3.)



                               Table II.3
                
                Time Charged to Union Activities by the
                Postal Service, VA, and IRS, Fiscal Year
                                  1995

                                                             Number of
                                                         hours charged
                                                              to union
Agency/Union                                                activities
------------------------------------------------------  --------------
Postal Service                                             1,743,548\a
American Postal Workers Union                                1,176,912
National Postal Mail Handlers Union                            461,804
National Association of Letter Carriers                         97,847
National Rural Letter Carriers' Association                      6,985
VA                                                                  \b
American Nurses Association
American Federation of Government Employees
National Federation of Federal Employees
National Association of Government Employees
Service Employees International Union
IRS                                                            527,330
National Treasury Employees Union                              527,330
----------------------------------------------------------------------
\a Of the $29,159,199 associated with the total hours charged to
union activities at the Postal Service, $19,950,153 was associated
with the hours charged by representatives of the American Postal
Workers Union; $7,414,326, by the National Postal Mail Handlers
Union; $1,683,917, by the National Association of Letter Carriers;
and $110,803, by the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association. 

\b VA did not have a time-reporting system to provide the total
number of hours it charged to union activities. 


--------------------
\8 The Postal Service procedure for resolving grievances was a four-
or five-step procedure, involving progressively higher-level union
and management officials.  The final step involved outside binding
arbitration.  In this context, the term "early stages" means that the
grievance was in the step-one or step-two stage--still at the
informal or field facility level. 

\9 Unlike other "union activities," employee involvement programs at
the Postal Service were not specifically required by statute,
regulation, executive order, or collective bargaining agreements. 


         TIME CHARGED TO UNION
         ACTIVITIES VARIED OVER
         5-YEAR PERIOD
---------------------------------------------------- Appendix II:0.2.1

From fiscal year 1990 to 1995, the amount of time charged to union
activities at the Postal Service remained relatively constant with
only minor variations.  (VA had no time-reporting system.) At IRS,
the time charges increased between 1990 and 1995 by about 28 percent,
although not consistently.  Official time increased about 90 percent,
and bank time decreased about 21 percent.\10 IRS officials told us
that these fluctuations were largely attributable to a change in the
collective bargaining agreement.  Previously, time spent by union
chapter presidents had been charged to bank time; now it is charged
to official time.  (See table II.4.)



                                    Table II.4
                     
                     Time Charged to Union Activities by the
                       Postal Service and IRS, Fiscal Years
                                     1990-95

                                    (In hours)

Agency/Union                        1990    1991    1992    1993    1994    1995
--------------------------------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Postal Service                    1,708,  1,779,  1,549,  1,624,  1,732,  1,743,
                                     434     274     222     518     927     548
IRS                               410,98  397,88  415,30  465,47  442,40  527,33
                                       3       2       0       9       3       0
IRS official time                 183,68  173,79  175,39  205,83  238,55  348,21
                                       1       8       6       1       2       1
IRS bank time                     227,30  224,08  239,90  259,64  203,85  179,11
                                       2       4       4       8       1       9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------
\10 IRS' definitions of official time and bank time differ from SSA's
definitions of these terms.  At IRS, official time is considered time
spent participating on the behalf of the union in meetings called by
IRS management, including meetings concerning personnel policies or
practices or other general conditions of employment.  Bank time is
time that (1) is spent by union stewards on activities associated
with the maintenance of an effective labor/management relationship,
including grievance resolution, and (2) is managed locally. 


      AMOUNT OF DUES COLLECTED
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix II:0.3

In fiscal year 1995, about 623,000, or 83 percent of the Postal
Service employees represented by a union, paid union dues through
payroll deductions.  The estimated dues collected were $192 million. 
At VA, approximately 48,000, or 29 percent of the employees
represented by unions, paid about $13 million in dues during this
time period.  About 43,000 IRS employees, or 44 percent of all IRS
employees represented by the union, paid about $11 million in dues. 
(See table II.5.)



                         Table II.5
          
              Union Dues Collected by Payroll
                Deduction, Fiscal Year 1995

                 Number of employees        Amount of dues
Agency/         paying union dues by  collected by payroll
Union              payroll deduction           deduction\a
------------  ----------------------  --------------------
Postal                       622,841          $191,581,079
 Service
American                     275,432            83,675,013
 Postal
 Workers
 Union
National                     226,280            84,978,484
 Association
 of Letter
 Carriers
National                    68,462\b            14,698,906
 Postal Mail
 Handlers
 Union
National                      52,667             8,228,676
 Rural
 Letter
 Carriers'
 Association
VA                            47,730           $12,880,841
American                      38,604            10,496,183
 Federation
 of
 Government
 Employees
National                       3,295               743,844
 Federation
 of Federal
 Employees
Service                        2,289               603,699
 Employees
 Internation
 al Union
National                       2,255               655,905
 Association
 of
 Government
 Employees
American                       1,287               381,210
 Nurses
 Association
IRS                           42,580         $11,113,408\c
National                      42,580           $11,113,408
 Treasury
 Employees
 Union
----------------------------------------------------------
\a These dollar amounts are the result of multiplying the dues
withheld during one pay period by 26, the number of pay periods in 1
year. 

\b A Postal Service official told us that a combination of two things
caused the number of employees paying dues to exceed the number of
employees represented by this union.  First, transitional employees
were represented by this union and were in some cases dues-paying
members.  However, these employees were not on the rolls at the end
of the year.  Second, several lawsuits in recent years have resulted
in the reclassification of employees in two positions:  "mail
handlers," who had been represented by the National Postal Mail
Handlers Union, and "clerks," who had been represented by the
American Postal Workers Union. 

\c The actual union dues collected by IRS for the 25 pay periods that
ended February 2, 1996, totaled $10,685,970.  We estimated that dues
for fiscal year 1995 were about $11,113,408 (we obtained this figure
by dividing $10,685,970 by 25 and multiplying the result by 26). 


      TIME-REPORTING SYSTEM
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix II:0.4

The reporting systems at the seven field facilities that we visited
varied:  Some facilities had electronic "clocking" systems; others
had no reporting system at all.  None of the systems used at the
field facilities we visited was designed to capture time spent by
management or other employees on union-related matters or to report
the number or names of union representatives charging union time. 

At the three Postal Service facilities we visited, union
representatives electronically clocked out when performing union
activities if an electronic badge reader was available, and the time
spent was automatically entered into a computerized system.  If no
electronic badge reader was available, the supervisor recorded the
information on a form, and the information was manually entered into
the computerized system. 

VA did not have a system to aggregate the hours charged to union
activities departmentwide, and the medical center that we visited did
not have its own system to capture this information.  The reporting
systems at the VA regional office varied from unit to unit. 

One of the IRS facilities we visited had standard procedures for
reporting time charges for union activities.  In the other facility
that we visited, practices varied from unit to unit.  Some units
recorded union time charges, while others recorded union time as
excused time.  Still other units provided information on union time
charges orally to supervisors without any documentation. 


      EFFECTS OF PARTNERSHIP
      ACTIVITIES ON UNION TIME
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix II:0.5

As an independent governmental establishment, the Postal Service is
not subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12871, which
articulated the new vision of labor/management relations called
"Partnership."

VA and IRS officials at the headquarters level were uncertain about
whether time spent on union activities had increased or decreased as
a result of the administration's Partnership agreement and
activities.  VA officials told us that it was too early to determine
the impact of the Partnership agreement.  However, they also said
that as they moved into the Partnership process, formal negotiations
appeared to be shorter and normally negotiable items were less
complex.  They went on to say that ULPs were down 14 percent and that
the number of grievances appeared to have been greatly reduced.  IRS
officials told us that because the agency was reorganizing, any
increase or decrease in time spent on union activities could not be
attributed directly to Partnership activities. 

VA and IRS officials at each of the four field facilities we visited
told us that time spent on Partnership activities increased
substantially in 1995.  They said that these costs were absorbed by
the agencies' general program budgets because Partnership activities
were considered a cost of doing business. 

In commenting on this report, NTEU said it believed that Partnership
activities have been the predominant cause of the increase in time
spent on union activities at IRS. 




(See figure in printed edition.)APPENDIX III
COMMENTS FROM THE SOCIAL SECURITY
ADMINISTRATION AND OUR EVALUATION
========================================================== Appendix II



(See figure in printed edition.)



(See figure in printed edition.)


The following are GAO's comments on the Social Security
Administration's letter dated September 6, 1996. 


   GAO COMMENTS
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix II:1

1.  SSA believed that our report did not adequately portray the
importance of Partnership between the agency and its unions.  It also
attributed $7 million in yearly savings from decreased ULPs and
arbitration cases from 1990 through 1995 to the results of
Partnership.  Our report states that the executive order on
Partnership directs agencies to involve labor organizations as full
partners with management to better fulfill the agencies' mission.  It
also states that, today, unions operating in federal government
agencies have significant involvement in operational and management
decisions.  Partnership activities at SSA are just beginning, and it
would be inappropriate at this time to make such a direct correlation
between the decline in ULPs and arbitration cases and Partnership. 
Figures 4 and 5 in the body of the report show similar declines in
these activities from 1990 to 1991, before the initiation of
Partnership. 

2.  SSA disagrees in part with what their field managers told us
regarding when and how union activities are carried out.  SSA states
that the amount of time spent on union activities is subject to the
control of local management to the extent that these requests for
time are reasonable.  In an April 1996 memo to field managers from
the Deputy Commissioner for Human Resources, SSA attempted to clarify
the circumstances under which requests for official time may be
delayed or denied.  The memo does not address union designation of
representatives nor the specific amount of time allocated to
representatives to perform union activities.  Our report has been
changed to reflect this. 

3.  We disagree with SSA's statement that the headquarters reporting
system is designed to capture the number and names of individuals. 
We found that the documents forwarded to headquarters and retained as
system source documents do not routinely identify the name and number
of individuals charging union time. 

4.  SSA originally supplied documentation that listed an individual
receiving a salary of $80,001 to $90,000 as a full-time union
representative.  It subsequently indicated that this information was
incorrect, and that, while he was a union steward, the individual was
not a full-time union representative.  We have changed the report to
reflect this. 




(See figure in printed edition.)APPENDIX IV
COMMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL
TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION
========================================================== Appendix II

mentioned in this letter are not reprinted here because their content
is explained in this letter. 



(See figure in printed edition.)


GAO CONTACTS AND STAFF
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
=========================================================== Appendix V

GAO CONTACTS

Roland H.  Miller III, Assistant Director, (202) 512-7246
Jeff Bernstein, Evaluator-in-Charge, (202) 512-7255

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In addition to those named above, the following individuals also made
important contributions to this report:  William J.  Staab, Jacquelyn
O.  Stewart, Vernette G.  Shaw, Brenda J.  Bridges, Cleofas Zapata
Jr., and James L.  Rose, Evaluators; John A.  Leitch, Assistant
Director; and Daniel A.  Schwimer, Attorney Advisor. 


*** End of document. ***