188 VETERAN AFFAIRS EMPLOYEES WERE PAID TO DO UNION-RELATED WORK INSTEAD OF HELP VETS? TWO SENATORS DEMANDS ANSWERS

Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) in a letter addressed to Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki claim that from January 1, 2012 through February 2013, 188 VA employees were paid full-time to do union-related work instead of assisting the nation’s veterans.

“Recently, it has come to our attention that a number of VA employees are paid government salaries, funded entirely by taxpayers, to perform work totally unrelated to their formal governmental duties,” the letter reads.

“In a practice known as ‘official time’ taxpayers pay for federal employees to perform union duties instead of their formal jobs they were initially hired to do,” it adds. “Federal employees not serving veterans during official time could lead to the failure of VA’s top goals and the well-being of those who have sacrificed in the service our nation, could be compromised. “

More