Ernst Exposes Federal Workers’ In-Person Protest Against Showing Up for Work

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Representative Scott Franklin (R-Fla.) called out the hypocrisy of federal employees advocating against returning to the office by protesting in person at their workplace.

After members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 948 showed up to the office and called for more telework, the lawmakers demanded to know how much taxpayer-funded union time representatives of this union logged with the Department of Labor (DOL) in the four weeks preceding their rally, whether the DOL employees were paid for this protest, including through taxpayer-funded union time reimbursements, and what this protest cost DOL.

In a letter to DOL Acting Secretary Julie Su, the lawmakers wrote, “Across the federal government, employee unions are fighting tooth and nail to stop agencies from bringing their members back to the office. This fight most recently came to your agency’s doorstep. Specifically, outside the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in Boston, Massachusetts, where members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 948 showed up to the office… to protest for more telework… Clearly, these employees know how much more effective they can be when they show up in person. I just wish they had the same level of dedication to serving Americans that they do to serving themselves.

“As White House Chief of Staff Zients said in January, agencies are still ‘not where they need to be’ on returning employees to the office. If your employees can show up to the office to protest, they can show up to the office to work,” the lawmakers continued.

Background:

In March 2024, Ernst introduced the Taxpayer-Funded Union Time Transparency Act to track the total amount taxpayers are subsidizing federal employee unions.

Since August 2023, Ernst has been demanding investigations into 24 federal departments and agencies to determine the impact of telework on the delivery and response times of services.

In December 2023, Ernst exposed that, almost four years after COVID-19 temporarily closed federal buildings, not a single government agency was utilizing even half their office space.

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