Congressman Meadows Introduces Empower Employees Act

Press Release

Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC) introduced legislation Friday which would prohibit the federal government from automatically deducting monthly union dues from federal employees' paychecks, keeping the collection of union dues between the employee and the union.

When bans on automatic paycheck deductions are implemented, there is often a dramatic decrease in the amount of dues collected, which suggests many employees would prefer to spend their money another way.

"The fact is, union dues are often automatically deducted before federal employees ever see their paychecks. This bill will empower those employees to choose how they wish to spend their hard-earned money," Congressman Meadows explained.

"This bill in no way restricts a federal employees' right to join a union, but it ensure that no taxpayer dollars are used in the collection of union dues," Meadows added.

This legislation is based on a similar bill, also entitled the Empower Employees Act, introduced in the House of Representatives during the 112th Congress by now Senator Tim Scott (R-SC):

"Taxpayer dollars should not be used to collect union dues -- plain and simple," Senator Tim Scott said. "We don't begrudge anyone the right to join a union, but collecting dues is a responsibility that falls to the unions themselves. I appreciate Congressman Meadows' leadership in introducing this important legislation in the House of Representatives, and look forward to working together to ensure that federal employees have a choice in how to spend the money they earn," he added.

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