| In the report released at the hearing, GAO said VA’s data “were not sufficiently reliable to determine the amount of official time used by VA employees and the purposes for which it was used.” Meadows said OPM statistics indicate “345 VA employees spent all of their time engaged on union activities … so they were essentially full time on official time. That means that 345 VA employees spent all of their time engaged on union activities.” William Kovacs III, also known as Trey, a policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, has suggested using the Holman Rule to “simply get rid of federal employees who spend 100 percent of their work hours on labor union business instead of actual government work.” He testified at Thursday’s hearing, but this statement was taken from his January article in the Hill. But what Kovacs calls “union business” also benefits non-union members and agency missions. Using official time for strictly union business, such as soliciting members, internal union meetings and union elections, is prohibited, J. David Cox Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), told the hearing. AFGE represents VA staffers. The GAO report shows that most VA managers and union officials surveyed agreed that official time was beneficial in improving agency decision-making, resolving problems and improving relationships — all items that help productivity. “The reasonable use of official time provides the means, not only in DVA [Department of Veterans Affairs] but also throughout the federal government by which employees and their elected representatives participate in the improvement of DVA services,” Cox said. Democrats on the panel also stressed the importance of official time in protecting whistleblowers, a group of federal employees politicians of both parties make a point of supporting. Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) made that point with a video of Michelle Washington. As a VA psychologist, she suffered retaliation after her Senate testimony about poor conditions at the VA hospital in Wilmington, Del. Connolly read a letter from her that said: “‘If official time had not been available to the AFGE representatives we may not have been able to defend my case. It would have set a precedent that management can retaliate without consequence.’” Added Connolly: “I am certain that my colleagues do not intend to disadvantage whistleblowers, but the effect of their concerted attacks on unions and civil service protections would be to strip whistleblowers of their advocates in the workplace — their union.” That seems to be the point. Read more: [Federal managers say Trump’s hiring freeze hurts government] [House Republicans revive obscure rule that allows them to slash the pay of individual federal workers to $1] | 